Filling in the Gap
by Creative Touch
Summary: When someone comes back from the dead, what do you expect to happen? What if this person was once the love of your life? Hermione loved him, he died and she moved on. Now, he's back and she doesn't know what to do anymore. Can she find her old roots? R
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **_If I did own Harry Potter, I would have never written things I couldn't take back. Like certain deaths and that Epilogue. _

**Summery: **When someone comes back from the dead, what do you expect to happen? What if this person was once the love of your life? Hermione loved him, he died and she moved on. Now, he's back and she doesn't know what to do anymore. Can she find her old roots?

**A/N: **_This is DH compatible but not the Epilogue because I really hate that Epilogue. Read my profile. _

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**Filling in the Gap**

**Chapter 1**

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He watched her, he did so everyday.

She was unaware that she had a stalker, well… he wouldn't say stalker. It was such a harsh word. He was more of an observer, a watcher, if you will. He longed for her, to touch her, to announce his presence. Five years away could do that to a person: make them seem completely insane when they weren't.

He hadn't lost his mind; he had lost his life… his _old _life. He wasn't dead, though many believed he was and he wanted nothing more to go back and redo all his mistakes. He had made a lot of mistakes through his life but the one he made to her was the biggest he could have ever done. He had hurt her; he had hurt himself. He had hurt everyone, when they saw him be put six feet underground. She didn't even know he was alive, _literally._

Why did he leave? The reason didn't even exist anymore. How was he suppose to even tell them he was alive, that he wasn't the same person they saw in that coffin? He despised his new life and longed for his old one, he didn't mean for the new life to happen. It just did.

He watched her; she was with a pregnant girl with long red hair. He knew that girl as well, for he had watched her for just as long. It made it sound like he _was _a stalker, but he would swear he wasn't. But he probably wouldn't convince anyone of that when he was hiding in a bush, around the side of the house where the two young women were sitting on the front porch.

He listened in on their conversation, using a miraculous invention called Extendable Ears, which he had made invisible for obvious purposes.

'So you're coming tonight, right?' the youngest of the two whined.

'You know I will,' was the other witch's reply.

'But what about…?'

'What about him?'

'You broke up with him after rejecting his engagement. Won't that be weird for you to see him there?'

'Well… I would be a liar if I said it wouldn't bother me. But the night is going to be all about you and Harry.'

'Hermione,' Ginny breathed. 'Why did you say no? And then break-up with him? He's really torn up about it.'

Hermione let out a loud sigh, 'I don't love him, Ginny. I thought I did, but I sort of knew that deep down, I didn't share the same feelings as he did. I love him like I love Harry, like a brother. I was going to break-up with him that night, it didn't feel right to drag him along like that. I didn't know he was going to propose! It was so unexpected; we haven't even talked about settling down. But what's happened happened and nothing we do is going to change that.'

'But… it's Valentine's Day. If I were you, I would think it would be weird.'

'Do you want me to come tonight or not?'

'You already said you would: you pinkie-promised.'

'No I did-' in one swift movement, Ginny hooked her pinkie around Hermione's, with a triumphant look upon her face. 'No fair. That's very immature.'

'Shh! don't let him hear you. I want him to respect his mamma,' Ginny said in mock hurt, rubbing her pregnant stomach.

'So, it is a boy then?'

'I don't know, honestly. Harry doesn't want to know but I think it's a boy. It just feels like it.' Hermione smiled at her.

'Well, I guess I have no choice but to come tonight. It's your fault that you got married on Valentine's Day.'

'It was Harry's idea. He thought it would be more special that way.'

'But you agreed to it. It was your wedding day too.'

'Fine! But do you think that I was thinking that you would break up with Ron just 2 years after? I'm not a seer, Hermione dear.'

'OK. If you mention the break-up one more time, I'll hex you.'

'That's not a nice thing to say to a pregnant woman,' Ginny said in mock hurt. Hermione rolled her eyes at her.

'Then drop it,' Hermione snapped, her recently short temper getting the best of her. 'I'm coming tonight, for you and Harry – that's all you need to know.'

So she had dumped Ron. And after he proposed too – _harsh_. Right now, the fact that Hermione Granger had dumped Ron Weasley wasn't the only thing that was going on inside his mind. He had it all planned out now.

It was tonight he planned to return, he could only hope they would accept what he done and forgive him. What better way to celebrate Valentine's Day than a resurrection?

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_So what do you think?_

_Just a random moment in the day when this stroke of inspiration hit me. I was in the middle of writing the next chapter of _the Magic of Lily _and this just suddenly occurred to me. I was trying to resist the urge to write it because I wanted to get TW and MOL out first but obviously I gave in._

_Hope you like it. Reviews are nice, flames not so much._

_Creative Touch _

_P.S. Any of you guys wanna be a beta to this or any other of my stories. Tell me! Because I can't let you be it if I don't know you wanna be one!_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **_Vote. Poll. Profile. Is that too much to ask for?_

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Last time:

_It was tonight he planned to return, he could only hope they would accept what he done and forgive him. What better way to celebrate Valentine's Day than a resurrection?_

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**Filling in the Gap**

**Chapter 2**

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Hermione Granger sat at her desk, in her London apartment with only the lamp on the desk lighting up the room. She was reading over some files that had been given to her earlier that week. Despite laughing at the idea of becoming a lawyer five years ago, she was now part of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Starting small with S.P.E.W, she went up the career ladder which resulted in her current job.

This was her sanctuary. To be in her peaceful home, filled with things both muggle and wizardry, and sitting among her work. Only Hermione Granger would find working until the late hours of the night, completely soothing. She focused on her work, knowing if she took her mind off it, her mind would wonder onto matters that she preferred not to be bothered by. Especially when there are Cornish-pixies being captured against their will!

She checked the clock, it read 7:30. She knew she had better head to the Burrow for Harry and Ginny's anniversary party. She was dressed; she had been ready for two hours, being the efficient person that she was. Hermione wore a simple V-neck green dress with short sleeves, her silver ballet flats and a matching handbag.

She still didn't move, knowing that she would be late if she didn't get up that very moment. She sat there, dreading the moment she would see Ron Weasley, her, now, ex-boyfriend. She didn't love him. She had _made _love to him, but the two were very different things. And according to her books: love was something very special and you would know if you had found it. And it was according to her books that she was positive that she hadn't really felt love in over five years. Not since…

It didn't matter who it was anymore. He had died in the battle and she was left distraught. Especially when she found out…

Again, she didn't care anymore. It was over, in the past, never to be repeated again. She couldn't just waltz into the Burrow, smiling at everyone knowing that they knew that she had broken the youngest Weasley son's heart. How was she supposed to know that he was going to propose!? She didn't want to be tied down with someone she didn't love, she wasn't even sure if she wanted to be tied down at all. She was 23 years old, still young with a promising career ahead of her, who wanted to be tied down with marriage?

Ginny and Harry wanted to. They were already married, celebrating three years of marriage this very Valentine's Day, and now had their first child on the way. Speaking of them, she really had to get going. Sighing, Hermione got up, knowing if she didn't show up, she would have to face the wrath of a pregnant Ginny.

She landed outside the Burrow, feeling a little uneasy from the apparation. She didn't like it, but she liked it more than flying any day. Perhaps she should have flooed… if her apartment actually had a fireplace! She timidly walked up the steps and softly rapped on the door.

'Hermione! About time you got here! I only left your house _three_ hours ago! What took you so long?' Ginny babbled as she pulled her friend inside.

'Work,' Hermione replied.

'You're such a work-a-hollic. You really don't need to push yourself-'

'She's Hermione Granger, Gin. She can't help but work!' Harry said from behind her.

'Hey Harry,' Hermione sighed, giving her best friend a hug. 'Happy Anniversary'

'Thanks 'Mione. Now, speaking of pushing yourself – Ginny, why are you greeting guests? You shouldn't be on your feet and you know it.' Ginny rolled her eyes at her husband.

'Let me have a little fun tonight, Harry,' she whined. 'In case you failed to notice, this is my party too.'

'Yes and parties mean stress, Gin. We don't want complications with the baby do we?'

'Complications!? It's our anniversary and I'm going to enjoy it, Harry James Potter,' Ginny said firmly.

'I'm gonna go…' Hermione said as she slipped away from the "happy" couple, in search of a place to isolate herself from the rest of the guests. Hermione wondered from room to room, each one containing guests who knew what she had done to _poor _Ron. She walked by them, managing a weak smile when she made eye-contact with them. She was just glad that she hadn't run into Ron yet.

Hermione found herself at the back door, and if she went through it she knew she would be alone. She went outside, looking up at night sky, glistening with all its star, and let's not forget the moon. How she loved the night, it still melted her heart... but it was painful. She remembered how she used to do this with _him_. Their dates would be simple yet somewhat romantic; he knew how to push all the right buttons. Five years later, and she still felt the same way. At least she was sure she still did.

What she felt for him was entirely different from what she felt for Ron. She had hoped that in time, her heart would mend and she would find herself falling for Ron, but none of that happened. She missed him so much. But what could she do? It wasn't like he was going to appear out of thin air.

'Hey 'Mione. What you up to?' She knew that voice.

'Hey Ron. Just sitting. I let Harry and Ginny have some time together,' Hermione breathed as Ron came to join her. After a moment's silence, he finally spoke.

'Why Hermione? Why did you break-up with me?' Ron asked, not looking at her. She didn't look at him either, but continued gazing up at the sky. She knew someone was bound to ask her that tonight; it might as well have been Ron. 'Didn't you love me?'

'I do love you, Ron. But not in the way that you hoped. Look I'm sorry that it had to happen that way, but I was unaware of your plans for us. I mean, we never even moved in, let alone think about marriage. I'm not ready for that kind of commitment.'

'Then why break-up?' He took hold of her chin, and making her look him in the eye.

'I told you, I didn't love you in that way. I just… I just didn't think it was right to let you believe in something that wasn't there. I'm sorry-'

'Save it, Hermione,' Ron let go of her face. 'I was just someone you wanted to shag, you don't care who gets hurt in the process, just as long as you get what you want.'

'Ron, you _know _that's not true. Ron – Ron!' Hermione cried out to him, but it was too late, Ron had already gone back inside and left her by herself. Hermione buried her head in her hands and broke down into heavy sobs. She didn't mean to hurt him, it just happened. It was apart of life, some things you had to let go and others you had to hold on. He was just one of those "let go" things. She didn't mean for anyone to feel the pain she had felt when _he _died. If she knew a spell that could take that pain away, she would perform it on the whole world. But unfortunately, this was something her books could not answer for her.

She didn't blame Ron for the way things turned out. How could she when it was her that broke his heart? Especially when she knew what it was like to suffer from a broken heart. It wasn't a very pleasant feeling. And she knew that feeling all too well… and now she had passed it on to another human being.

'Hey, what's with the crying?' came a voice. Hermione looked up at the new-comer. 'Hello 'Mione. Miss me?' She knew that voice so well. She hadn't heard it in a while…

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…_and insert a cliffhanger here. ;)_


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **_Doesn't seem like anyone IS reading this story! If you are, you should let me know! Is it because you don't know who the mystery person is? Well… be patient!_

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Last time:

'_Hey, what's with the crying?' came a voice. Hermione looked up at the new-comer. 'Hello 'Mione. Miss me?' She knew that voice so well. She hadn't heard it in a while…_

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**Filling in the Gap**

**Chapter 3**

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'Leave me alone, George,' Hermione breathed, she was not in the mood for one of his jokes.

'I can't believe you out of all people, wouldn't recognise me,' he said, stepping more closely to the light.

'Oh George, stop it. I'm not in the mood for one of your so-called jokes,' Hermione snapped at him.

'No Hermione, it's me.' His voice was much sweeter than usual, but Hermione was getting rather restless with his act. He took her hand but she drew away from him.

'Seriously George, just let me be,' she cried as got up and went back inside. He was left in the cold wind, feeling completely dumbfounded. Why hadn't she recognised him? Had he really changed that much over the years? Apparently, he had. He drew in a breath as he followed her into the house.

This was going to be more difficult than he thought.

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Hermione ran into the house, tears streaming down her pale face, getting lost in her bushy hair. She had no idea where she was going and she had no intention on finding out either. It wasn't before long that she ran into someone.

'Hermione! What's wrong?' Ginny exclaimed. She pulled Hermione into a hug, which wasn't that easy judging by the size of her stomach. Hermione broke down even more in her arms. 'Hermione, what happened?'

'R-Ron… that's what ha-happened,' Hermione cried. She was quite glad that it was Ginny that she had run into, and not one of the other members of the very large Weasley clan. 'We got into a fight.' Hermione told Ginny what had happened between her and Ron only a few minutes ago. Ginny rubbed Hermione's back throughout the story, letting her cry and get herself all wet. As soon as she mentioned the words that Ron had spat at her at the end of their argument, Ginny grew angry.

'Harry! Get over here NOW!' Ginny called out, still soothing Hermione as best as she could. Harry appeared after a few minutes and was startled by Hermione.

''Mione, what's wrong?' Harry asked, joining Ginny as he rubbed her back as well.

'My brother is what's wrong,' Ginny said before Hermione got a chance to speak. 'Go find him and set him straight. He and Hermione had a fight, and he told her that she was selfish and that she was just using him.'

'Well… he _does _have a right to be angry, Gin. He is suffering from a broken heart…'

'That doesn't give him the excuse to talk to my best friend like that!' Ginny snapped. 'Word of advice, Harry Potter: do not mess with a pregnant woman and her hormones'

'But-'

'No buts! You go and talk to Ron now or I will be naming the baby Umbridge if it's a girl or a boy!'

'That's not quite fair to me or the baby, darling. But I will go talk to him,' Harry said, giving Ginny a kiss on the cheek before he left in search of the youngest Weasley brother.

'It'll be ok Hermione. Harry will set him straight. Ron probably didn't even mean those words,' Ginny said.

'Like George didn't try and play a joke on me afterwards?' Hermione asked, wiping away her tears.

'What?'

'After we had our fight, George came out of nowhere and tried to play a joke as if I had amnesia. But I didn't fall for it…'

'But George-'

'- probably meant well. But I really wasn't in the mood, as you can imagine,' Hermione shrugged.

'But George was with me just a few minutes ago! Before you ran into me…' Ginny's face was full of concern.

'That's not possible,' Hermione said. And if Hermione said it wasn't possible – then more or less, she was right.

'Maybe he was testing out a new product, and you were just the unfortunate one that got caught up with it. Since he doesn't have Fred, he has to test them on himself.'

'Well… I'm going to talk to him about that. It's not nice to release untested products on unsuspecting distraught people,' Hermione said in a huff, heading for the dining room.

'But George is in the kitchen…' but Hermione didn't seem to have heard her. It wasn't too long before she saw him, standing around like he didn't seem to belong.

'George I want a word with you,' she said sternly.

'Hermione!' he greeted brightly. 'I know we got off on the wrong foot before, but may I say that you still look beautiful with black mascara cascading down your cheeks.'

'Shut it. And don't make fun of me when I'm upset or angry. That's not fair, George.'

'Ok. First, I'm not George – I told you that before. And second, I wasn't making fun of you-'

Hermione snorted at the comment. 'Yeah sure you weren't…and I'm a hippogriff.'

'No seriously. I was telling the truth, honestly. You still do look as beautiful as you did when we last met.'

'At New Years? OK. I was drunk, really drunk – I doubt I looked beautiful.' George shook his head at her, laughing at the same time.

'No I meant at the battle.'

'Battle? What battle?' she asked bemused.

'You know… the battle at Hogwarts.'

'George, stop fooling around. Enough is enough. Stop it right now or I will hex you.'

'You wouldn't do that.'

'Oh really? What makes you say that?'

'Because you find me irresistible…' he purred. Hermione was really confused at George's sudden kindness towards her. It was so unlike him.

'Hey Hermione,' came a voice from the doorway. 'Ginny told me that you were looking for me and that… whoa.' Another Weasley male walked in, his eyes wide in disbelief. 'Forge?'

'Sure is, Gred.'

'What now George? Can't you see I'm talking to…' Hermione stopped as she realised she was seeing double: one George in front of her and the other at the doorway. 'Am I seeing double here?'

'No, it's me Hermione,' the closest George said, taking her hand and putting it to his face. She stared up at her eyes meeting with a pair of midnight blue ones… _his eyes._

'Oh my…' Hermione gasped as everything clicked in her head; she felt dizzy, scared, confused. Her heart started to race a million miles an hour, her head was pounding with thoughts and questions. She needed to get out of here. So fainting on the spot was the ideal solution.

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**A/N: **_See! I told you to be patient. And here is our mystery man… FRED!_

_Yes-sir-ee: this is a Hermione/Fred story! I brought him back to life for all you Fred lovers, which includes myself. I never liked the fact that JK killed him off… he was __Fred__ for Merlin's sake. _

_Hope you like it! Here's some questions you might want to keep in mind:_

_Why is he back? – How come he didn't die? – Why didn't he tell anyone he was alive? – What's going on with him and Hermione? – How will everyone else react? Like Hermione? _

_So there you have it._

_I like reviews, have I mentioned that once or twice or every chapter in every story? Would it kill people to tell me they like it?_

_Lots of creative love,  
__Creative Touch _


	4. Chapter 4

Last time:

'_Oh my…' Hermione gasped as everything clicked in her head; she felt dizzy, scared, confused. Her heart started to race a million miles an hour, her head was pounding with thoughts and questions. She needed to get out of here. So fainting on the spot was the ideal solution._

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**Filling in the Gap**

**Chapter 4**

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'Hermione! Hermione, wake up!' Hermione felt someone gently shaking her as she stirred. She had a horrible throb in her head and she was feeling somewhat queasy. Her eyelids fluttered open to show a Weasley male through blurry vision. She didn't know who it was but she didn't care as she realized that she was on the floor. She had no idea what had happened and how she ended up on the Burrow's floor.

Her vision slowly returned as she looked around the room, her eyes landing on the mystery suitor that was bending over her. 'My head,' she moaned, putting her hand to her forehead.

'You might have a concussion or something. Didn't think that you would react that way,' he said smiling down at her.

'React to what?' Hermione asked confused. It was then that she swore that she was seeing double of George again. But she realized that one was missing an ear, whilst the other one wasn't. Then she looked up to see the same midnight blue eyes that had caused her to fall in the first place. 'Oh my… are you real?' she asked uncertainly.

'As real as you,' he said taking her hand and helping her up. She lifted her hand up as if she was to touch his face but was afraid of what would happen. So she slapped him instead. 'OW! What was that for?'

'Why are you back?' she demanded

'Ok… that's not really the question I was expecting to hear right now,' he replied, his hand touching where her hand met his face.

'I don't care what you expect! You don't have a right to walk into here, unannounced and expect us to be ok with it!' Hermione shouted at him, using as much of her temper as she could muster.

'What's with all the yelling?' Percy voice echoed through the room. No one spoke. Silence. Everyone knew how hard Percy was taking Fred's death; after all he had blamed himself.

'Nothing Perce,' George said.

'It was defiantly something. Do we have to have an argument every time mum has us over?' he asked, coming closer to the three. 'George, mum wants you in the kitchen. And Fred, stop bugging Hermione. No doubt it was you who Ginny was talking about to mum.' Percy froze, knowing something wasn't right with what he said. 'Fred?' he gulped.

'It's alright Perce. It's me,' Fred smiled. Percy's face drained of all its colour. Hermione was positive that he was going to pass out like she did, or attack him. But instead, she saw his face break into a wide grin.

'How are you alive?' Percy exclaimed, giving Fred a brotherly-fashioned hug.

'I'll tell you later?' Fred asked.

'I'll keep you to your word. Mum's going to be ecstatic that you're alive. And Ginny too. I'm going to go get them now,' Percy said in one excited breath.

'No. Don't get them. Perce!' Fred called out to him as he vanished from the room. But Percy didn't return. Fred turned to Hermione, 'That's kinda how I thought you would react.' Hermione rolled her eyes at him.

'You want me to ask the same question as Percy?'

'No. You'll get the same answer.'

'Then we go back to the question: Why are you back?' Hermione asked simply. Fred took her hand and pulled her towards him and bent down low.

'I will definitely tell you. But when I'm ready, ok?' Fred whispered so that only she could hear him. Hermione stepped back and stared at him, cocking an eyebrow at the same time. 'Please be patient,' he begged. One thing was for sure, with her newly found short temper, you _never_ tell Hermione Granger to be patient.

'Percy! What are you on about? Stop pulling me...' Ginny's voice came from the other room. Hermione grabbed Fred's arm and yanked it hard.

'Don't let Ginny see you,' she whispered urgently.

'What? Why?' Fred asked bemused.

'She's _pregnant_. We don't want her to have the baby right then and there!' Hermione said, still pulling his arm.

'I doubt that,' Fred said, not budging. He was much stronger than he was five years ago, and no petite witch like Hermione could make him move. At least that's what he thought until he was dangling in midair by his ankle. Damn magic.

'Now will you listen to me?' she hissed.

'Whoa! Put him down Hermione – if you want to get him out of here, this is definitely not the way to do it. People are still gonna see him – but now you're just bringing more attention to his existence,' George said.

'Oh shut up,' Hermione snapped not wanting to admit he was right. When did Hermione ever admit she was wrong? She thought _Liberacorpus _with little difficulty letting Fred fall to the ground with a loud _thump_.

'What was that?' Harry asked. Hermione saw Harry and Ginny behind Percy who was looking slightly thrilled at the sight. Percy grabbed George's arm and pulled him towards Ginny.

'Gin, do you notice anything?' Percy asked, still being over-joyed that his brother was not dead.

'Um…?'

'He's been working out?' a very confused Harry asked. George shook himself out of Percy's grip.

'Perce, you really need to learn to tell the difference. Merlin, you're just as bad as Hermione,' George began. 'I'm _George_. Not-'

'FRED!' Ginny squealed as she saw her brother getting up from the floor. Ginny threw herself into his arms once he stood up. Hermione scolded the fact that everyone seemed to figure out the situation faster than she could. Since when did that happen? She was slightly upset that no one had reacted the same way she did. 'You're alive! I can't believe you're alive!'

'Good to see you too, little sis. Boy, you're definitely heavier.' Ginny let go to smack him in the arm.

'I'm pregnant, you dimwit.'

'So I noticed. And that would be Harry's baby you're carrying?' he asked, raising an eyebrow at Harry.

Ginny nodded, 'I've missed you so much. You missed a lot while you were gone.' She gave him another hug, tears sparkling in her brown eyes.

'Not really…' he mumbled.

'What?' Ginny asked.

'Um… Oh I said… "Oh really?"… Like what?' the room suddenly felt a lot warmer than it did a few minutes ago to Fred.

'Like my wedding, a whole bunch of Teddy's firsts, dad's promotion, Charlie's new girlfriend and your niece.'

'Oh Victoire you mean?' Fred mentally kicked himself for saying more than he should have.

'Yeah… how did you know?' Harry asked suspiciously.

'I… uh… overheard… someone say something about… her. I just assumed that she was Bill and Fleur's daughter. Sounds like a name Fleur would choose, no?' Fred lied.

'Got that right. It took dad forever to pronounce it correctly. Kept calling her _Victoria_,' George piped in. 'drove us all insane.'

'Yeah… that sounds like something dad would do,' Fred sighed.

'Just wait till he hears you're alive!' Ginny squealed.

'Mum too.'

'Oh god, it's going to be hours till we eat. No offence Forge but I'm starving. Bet you are too,' said George. 'Promise you will tell us everything _during_ dinner. Otherwise we won't be eating till tomorrow. Actually… mum will probably treat you like Harry.'

'Hey!' Harry said defensively.

'By that I mean that she will say that you haven't been fed properly. Hell, she will even greet you like she does with Harry. No offence, Harry old chap.'

'None taken bi-atch,' Harry smirked, earning himself a slap on the arm from Ginny. Through all this, no one really paid attention to Hermione anymore. She stood there in the shadows, staring at the happy family. Tears rolled down her face, after all who could blame her? She had gotten him back after all these years. Her heart ached for him and she was even more in love with him than the day he "died". Then why did she want to blow him up and send him into oblivion?

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**A/N: **_Yeah Victoire is in the story. Even though my stories aren't "Epilogue faithful", I still like the name and just chucked it in there. Eh, what are you going to do about it?_

_Gonna ask your opinion on this, faithful readers: Do I __need__ to change my pen name?_

_I was _InspirationLover _earlier this year, and now I am _Creative Touch. _But I was thinking something along the lines of _The Silver Patronus _or _The Muggleborn Squib. _Tell me what you think. It's very useful to me._

_Don't steal my other ideas for names – coz I would like to use maybe one of them._


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **_I kinda wanna skip ahead. I think it would get quite boring if I showed _EVERYONE'S _reaction to Fred. So let's fast forward. And in case you are wondering what the reactions were, here's a hint: no one did a Hermione. They were more like Ginny and Percy. Eh, who can blame them?_

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Last time:

… _She had gotten him back after all these years. Her heart ached for him and she was even more in love with him than the day he "died". Then why did she want to blow him up and send him into oblivion?_

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**Filling in the Gap**

**Chapter 5**

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Two days.

That's how many days had passed since Fred's miraculous reunion with life and the Weasley family. Everyone was ecstatic, over the moon – even Ron had gotten out of his bitter, mopey state to celebrate. Everyone was thrilled… except Hermione.

Hermione was scared and confused still. She was happy, how could she not be? But she was feeling slightly frustrated. She could hardly concentrate on her work with Fred always on her mind. She hadn't said a word to him since Valentine's Day – and frankly, she didn't want to. Or did she?

Hermione was caught in a bind between love and hate. She loved him; yes this was the love she had hoped would have bloomed between her and Ron, but she had it for Fred. She loved him so much, she wanted to spend every waking moment with him, she wanted to kiss him and share the passion that they had over five years ago. But yet she despised him. She hated the fact he left her, that he came back unannounced and couldn't even bothered telling her that he was alive. She was so lost.

She loved the idea that he was alive and he had come back to them. How many wishes had she wasted on that moment? Plenty. She wished every chance she got that he would come back to her – now he was back and she wished he wasn't. It was real irony to the cliché line: be careful what you wish for.

Hermione sat at her desk, with her work as always. She hadn't gotten anything done; it was frustrating and very irritating for her. Unfinished work in front of her was painful for her to look at. What was wrong with her? She never had this problem before, she would even work when she was sick! And now, she just couldn't concentrate on her work.

Fred.

That one word was the only thing on her mind. Her only advice for herself was to find something else to take her mind off him. But how could she when the something to take her mind off him was her work? And not even that was helping.

Hermione threw her quill aside. She just realised that she was doodling on a spare piece of paper, whilst she was lost in thoughts about Fred. And that's exactly what the paper said: Fred. She had written Fred in loopy red writing all over the page along with several hearts and Mrs. Fred Weasleys. Letting out a loud cry of anger, Hermione reached out her arm and slammed the paper work aside with all her might, watching it fly up into the air and scattered itself on the floor around her.

She needed to get out. This wasn't her at all. She would never, ever throw her work aside like that, and if so, just leave it there. She hurriedly grabbed her jacket and slammed the door on her way out.

Hermione breathed in the cool air as she left the building. She needed to take a walk to clear her head of her thoughts…about him. She pulled her coat up, letting the wind blow her hair everywhere, allowing all thoughts access to her mind.

Did she want to see him again? Yes. No. She battled with her herself, her mind against her heart. Both were very equally matched. Yes she wanted to see him, she loved him; how could she resist? No because he left her distraught and alone with a secret that she had to be burdened with until… well… the day she died. The secret would be buried with her in her grave...

Would he know? Oh course not. She hadn't gotten the chance to tell him before he supposedly "died".

'What am I suppose to do?' she asked out to no one. She kept walking, shuffling her feet as she went along. She thought of the good times with him, how she would seek his company during the war, how he knew how to get her to open up and even though he was a joker, he still listened to every word that came out of her mouth. He knew how to love her, he allowed himself to fall in love with her and vice versa. His kisses were gentle, warm, loving and completely unforgettable. Just like him.

Hermione groaned at the thought. She loved him, yes… but it was so much more than that. He left her. It was as simple as that. He left her for five years, and what? Pick up where they left off? Could she do that? Impossible. She just broke up with Ron and he was missing from her life for such a long time, how could she forgive him for what he had done?

When she needed him the most, where was he? Dead. There was nothing she could do to stop death, so she accepted that. But he wasn't dead, he was…

She didn't know. She never had gotten her answer. What had happened? Did he not love her? Even so, that was no reason to fake a death. Was he in hiding? Was he in trouble? Or even worse, kidnapped? A million things ran through her mind. What was the real answer?

''Mione? Hello? Earth to Hermione Granger' Hermione snapped out of her thoughts and saw none other than the man she had been thinking about.

'Huh?' was all she managed to say.

'You've been standing outside the store for twenty minutes. George finally sent me out to get you. Are you ok?' Fred asked concerned. Hermione looked around; she was at the Weasley Wizarding Wheezes. How did she get there? Hell, how did she even manage to get to Diagon Alley? She didn't even remember apparating… maybe she flooed. No, she would have to say something… perhaps she used the entrance through the Leaky Cauldron. However she got here, she was here and that was the point.

'Oh... I came... to get… um… one of your…'

'Punching telescopes?' Fred chuckled.

'No,' she said firmly, 'your Patented Daydream Charms.'

'Ahh… that explains why you were staring into the store for twenty minutes. You shouldn't really use them just before you buy another.'

'I…' Hermione started but didn't finish the sentence thinking better of it, and just nodded. Hermione followed Fred into the store; it had been a while since she stepped inside WWW. It had hurt her too much before, to be reminded of him, but now she didn't really care. Fred got one of the Patented Daydream Charms off the shelf and gave it to Hermione.

'Two galleons, 'Mione dear.' She silently handed over the coins. 'Hermione,' Fred started.

'What Fred?' Hermione asked innocently, staring at the brightly coloured box in her hand.

'I know that you didn't just come here for the Charm.'

'Is that so?' she replied, still not looking at him.

'Yeah it is. We both know that you are much smarter than this. You can do the incantation by yourself; you don't need to keep buying them. Not that I'm glad that we're making some money.'

'Fine, I wasn't here for the charm,' she gave in. 'but…'

'But what 'Mione?'

'Can we talk? You know… privately?'

'George,' Fred called over his shoulder.

'Yeah Fred?' George said, his head popping out from around the corner.

'I'm gonna take a break.'

'You've taken a break for five years. That's slacking off that is.'

'Oh shut up. I will only be ten minutes.'

'Fine. Hey Hermione, need any help? You looked pretty dazed outside.'

'I'm fine, thanks George.'

'C'mon, let's go upstairs.' Fred led Hermione to the loft above the store. It was much like Hermione's own apartement but slightly bigger, and a whole lot messier. 'If I knew I would be seeing you today, I would have cleaned up a bit.'

'No you wouldn't. That's not you at all,' Hermione sighed, moving carefully between boxes of, what could be, untested products.

'How would you know?'

'I doubt you have changed, Fred. You still seem the same.'

'On the outside, yes,' said Fred. 'But physically, mentally and emotionally I have changed.'

'What do you mean?' asked Hermione. Fred hesitated for a moment.

'I know that you would come looking for me… to ask me.'

'Ask you what?' Hermione said bemused.

'What I was doing back here… why I'm alive. I knew it was a matter of time before you hunted me down to find out all the details that I didn't mention at Harry and Ginny's party.'

'You didn't mention anything at the party.'

'And there's a reason for that,' Fred said, looking like he was ready to break down. Hermione walked over to him and gave him a hug. She didn't know what made her do it, but it felt nice to be back in his arms. To her surprise, Fred wrapped his own arms around her and returned the hug, kissing the top of her bushy head. They stayed like that for what seemed like ages, before Hermione let go.

'Are you ready to tell me then?' she asked nervously. He gave her a weak but sad smile before nodding.

* * *

**A/N:**_and we add this chapter on yet another cliffhanger._

_Why is Fred back? How come his isn't dead? What is he hiding? Will Hermione be ok with it? _

_Who knows? I do, that's who. LOL. Until next time. Ciao!_

* * *

_**ATTENTION!**__ JK ROWLING HAS GIVEN OUT THE FUTURE OF THE WEASLEY FAMILY TREE!_

_SO __basically what all the characters children's names are and who they married. I AM DISHEARTENED BY THIS. If there is ANY reader writing a fanfic for after the _STUPID_ epilogue, this is where to go:_

_community. livejournal. com/ ohnotheydidnt/ 18808844. html# cutid1_

_Take__ out spaces obviously._

_Lots of love,  
from a not so happy,_

_Creative Touch_

_P.S. I wrote this in ONE day. I am so proud. I got it out before 2008. See you guys next year, _literally.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **_This chapter is dedicated to none other than _kayko15. _Why? Because she is who she is… and she and Fred are kindred spirits._

* * *

Last time:

'_Are you ready to tell me then?' she asked nervously. He gave her a weak but sad smile before nodding._

* * *

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

**Filling in the Gap**

**Chapter 6**

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

'Where should I start?' he asked her.

'The beginning is always a popular choice,' replied Hermione.

'But that's the thing: there are so many beginnings! There are so many parts and starts to this story that…' he exhaled a breath. 'Hermione, please understand how hard this is for me.'

'But why is it so hard, Fred? I mean… it's me Fred. We used to tell each other everything.' Fred gave her a small smile. 'Fred… you don't know how much it hurt when you left. How much I was hurting…'

'Can't be as much as I was hurting.' He pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. 'I loved you so much. If I could go back and change what I did, believe me I would. I wish things could go back to the way they were.'

'What? Sneaking around like a couple of teenagers?'

Fred let out a chuckle. 'No, I mean that we would still be together. I know what we had was forbidden, but it existed nonetheless.'

'It wasn't forbidden… it was just-'

'Prohibited?'

'No… just disapproving by others.'

'That's why I left.'

Silence

'You left because of me?' she asked bewildered.

'No! Oh god, I would never do that!' he said alarmed.

'You left because no one approved?'

'No! I left because what I did would never be approved by the others!' he shouted. He watched as Hermione's weak frame, trembled with fear and despair.

'What could you have-?'

'Hermione please don't judge me. I really did love you, everything I said and did – I really meant it.' Hermione held up her hand.

'Fred… are you breaking up with me?' she joked, trying to shed some light on the situation. Fred frowned at her.

'This isn't a joking matter 'Mione,' he said sternly.

'Then will you cut the chase, and tell me where you've been for the past five years!?'

'I'm married.' The words cut through the air, suddenly making it harder for Hermione to breathe. She felt her heart freeze and then shatter like glass, lying at the bottom of her ribcage.

'What?' she choked out.

'I _was _married.' Fred held his breath as he watched Hermione's body give signs of a break-down.

'I don't… I don't understand.'

'Did I finally do something that the great Hermione Granger couldn't figure out?' he laughed lightly.

'I thought you said this wasn't a joking matter.'

'You're right: I did and it isn't. When you left with Harry and Ron, I was worried sick about you. You didn't even say goodbye.'

'I came to see you. When Ron left or things weren't working out the way we hoped, I came to you...'

'I know. And I appreciated it. But before…' Fred closed his eyes, trying to erase the memory. 'I slept with another girl.'

'What?' she screamed.

'Shh… keep it down, will you?' he hushed.

'Don't you dare tell me to keep it down after what you just told me! You cheated on me!'

'Hermione -'

'Don't you "Hermione" me! I risked my own life including Ron and Harry's to see you!' She could feel the tears build up behind her eyes, threatening to fall. 'And you had cheated on me! How could you!?'

'Hermione, please listen to me-'

'NO! I don't want to listen to another word you have to say!' She turned on the spot but Fred grabbed her arm and pulled her closer. She whacked him hard in the chest repeatedly, fighting as best as she could, trying to get away, but he held a firm grip on her. Hermione tried to coil as much as possible but Fred was much stronger than she was. She finally gave up and collapsed against him, crying into his torso. 'Why Fred? Why?'

'I didn't mean it Hermione. Honestly, I didn't,' he whispered as he held her close, letting her get his shirt all wet.

'How am I suppose to believe that? You cheated on me and then ran away for five years. How can I trust you?'

'You just have to, 'Mione. I don't love her, I never did.'

'Did you tell her that,' Hermione asked, looking up.

'Of course I did.'

'Then the sex was just physical?'

'More like emotional. Her parents were part of the Order, and they had been killed on a mission. She was distraught and I looked after her. I didn't know where you were or what was happening with you and it was tearing me up inside. I wanted to see you but I couldn't, and I had no idea what you were doing. So one night, we just…' Hermione knew what was going to be said next and Fred knew that she would. He cupped her face with his hands. 'It happened only once, and then she was moved for her security. It meant nothing to me'

'But you still slept with her. That's the point, Fred. A kiss I can excuse but you slept with her.'

'What was I suppose to do? Wait to see if you were alive?'

'I came back to you!'

'I know but before I didn't know if you were. You were out there being chased down by Death Eaters, and I was scared for you.'

'But I didn't cheat on you with them'

'How was I suppose to know that? You were out there with Harry and my love-sick brother and no other girls in sight! Anything could have happened! You could have had meaningless emotional sex just like me.'

'I would never do that to you,' Hermione cried.

'Oh really?' he mumbled.

'What did you say?' she demanded. Fred chose to ignore this statement.

'I didn't see her for the longest amount of time, and I got to see you again. So I thought there was no harm. Then she came back… a week before the battle. I hadn't seen you in a couple of weeks and I still worried about you and your safety. But then she came and told me she was pregnant.' Hermione gasped. Fred stared at the ground and rushed on, 'she said that I was the only one she slept with, and with the war going on how could I accuse her of anything? She asked me to come back with her, to start a family, raise the child with good decent parents. I told her to wait a little while for my answer.

'The night I was suppose to meet her and give her my answer, I got the call from Neville. And the fight happened. I saw you there in the Room of Requirement and I knew I had to tell you, talk to you about it.'

'Then why didn't you?' Hermione asked. 'I was right there!'

'Things were going too fast. There was a bloody war going on! And I was going to tell you and ask you what I should do. Then you made my mind up for me,' he looked up. Tears still clung on Hermione's eyelashes, ready to fall.

'What do you mean I made up your mind? You never told me.'

'I saw you… kissing Ron. You obviously gave in to him and I just… I don't know… thought that you had picked him over me.'

'Oh… that kiss was just a spur of the moment thing. He finally did something right and it just sorta happened. I didn't intend on being with him after the war, but you died…' she trailed off. 'You died. I saw you die.' Fred held up one finger to silence her.

'I faked my own death. I was hurt by your actions towards Ron, and no one knew of our relationship or my relationship with _her_.' Even her name tasted bitter in his mouth as it did in his head. 'I charmed a death eater's body into my own. No one seemed to notice. They were already dead when I charmed them and it was me who blew up that wall so that I could make my escape. I fled the battle and went to see her, and the rest is history.'

'But why didn't you just tell someone what you had done? We could have helped you with the baby.' Fred just shook his head.

'There is no baby,' he stated bitterly.

'Oh no… did she have a miscarriage?'

'No. We had gotten married almost immediately and we were about one month into the marriage when she told me she had lost the baby. I had believed her too, but I was still too upset about leaving everyone to even try again. But her sister had told me a couple weeks afterwards that she was never pregnant. She just wanted to marry someone and had just hoped that a baby would come in due time. But it didn't. I never even tried.'

'Then why didn't you come back?'

'Because of the stupid Wizarding Marriage Laws! I had to live with her for five years before I could file for divorce. The stupid ministry made the law so that families could have a chance of getting back together or change their minds. I didn't change mine. She tried to seduce me, make it up to me but I wouldn't fall for it. My heart was still on you.

'I didn't tell anyone about it because I was ashamed what I did. This was my mess and I was going to get myself out of it. And I did: I stuck by her for five miserable years and just last June I signed the papers and left.'

'June? It's February now. What have you been doing for eight months?'

'I didn't know how to face you. It was you that I first went to see but imagine my surprise when I saw you and Ron lip-locking at the Burrow. It was first thing I saw,' he sighed. 'I was hurt. I still loved you, and not a single went by in my marriage from hell that I didn't think about you. I ran again. I needed to get my head around things before I could see anyone again.'

'Then how have you been living?'

'I work at night as a barman at a local muggle pub. I use the money to rent myself a room in a nice couple's house. But by day, well…'

'Well what?'

'I watch you.'

'Excuse me?' Hermione gasped.

'Not only you but Ginny and the others. I missed you guys a lot but I couldn't bring myself to talk to you. I knew what I was going to say but the words never left my mouth; I wanted to walk up to you guys but every time I froze. So I hid myself, and watched you guys, just to see what you were up to… if anybody would care if I came back. It was when you and Ginny were sitting at the front porch of Harry and Ginny's house that I heard that you broke up with Ron. And I don't know… it gave me a reason why to come back,' he shrugged. 'I saw the family I was staying with the day after the party and I moved back here with George. And that's my story...'

Fred froze, realising that Hermione was crying. ''Mione, what's wrong?' She didn't say anything but continued to cry. He attempted to touch her but she recoiled. 'Hermione, talk to me.'

'Fred!' George said coming in the loft. 'You said ten minutes. It's been almost an hour. I can't do this by myself you know.'

'OK first, you've done it for almost six years. Second, you have Verity helping you.'

'Yeah she needs a break so that means yours is up and… Hermione, are you OK?' Hermione didn't say anything but ran out of the loft, tears still falling. Fred ran after her, calling her name. Hermione practically flew down the stairs, and jumped out of the store.

She apparated back to her apartment and broke down and cried. Her body shook with each sob and she couldn't help but wonder what life would have been like if she didn't kiss Ron. Or if he had known.

* * *

**A/N: **_and that is why Fred is back, and why he left._

_Sad eh? Now if only it was true!_

_Oh well… _

_Hope you liked this chapter!_

_Lots of Love,  
__Creative Touch._

_Another story done in one day. Proud?_


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **_Another chapter dedicated to the wonderful _kayko15… _and her lover Fred… and his twin brother George. Why? Because it was when I was writing to them that I had this stroke inspiration and I am now in their debt._

* * *

Last time:

_She apparated back to her apartment and broke down and cried. Her body shook with each sob and she couldn't help but wonder what life would have been like if she didn't kiss Ron. Or if he had known._

* * *

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

**Filling in the Gap**

**Chapter 7**

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

_So this is what sick leave is like_, Hermione thought to herself. _I should go on it more often_. She shoved another spoonful of chocolate ice-cream into her mouth and savoured the taste. _Who needs Fred Weasley when you have sweet ice-cream?_

'I sure don't,' she said out loud to no one. After she had calmed down from her crying fit, she had decided to go see Fred and explain everything to him. After all, he did deserve the truth from her. Imagine her surprise when she came back to the store and saw Fred with his ex-girlfriend, Angelina. Hermione had regretted coming back to him instantly and apparated back to her faithful apartment to wallow in self-pity.

She had not been to work in three days, calling in sick and working at home. Never having taken sick leave before, no one argued with her about it and let her do her work at home. Hermione was glad that she had all these days off that she could still use, but had always fought to never use.

Sitting on the sofa, eating chocolate ice-cream straight out of the tub and watching boring daytime television seemed to suit Hermione in her current state. She wasn't really wallowing a lot, she at least showered and left the home to get supplies, and she didn't sit around with all her girlfriends and cry about him whilst watching chick-flicks. Hermione was a lot stronger than that. Instead she sat, fully dressed, eating her favourite ice-cream, watching whatever was on and had daily daydreams on how to hurt one Fred Weasley.

She had not cried. She couldn't cry anymore. Hermione had given out every last tear her body had made on that one day when she found out the truth of his whereabouts. She regretted ever wanting to tell him the truth – what had happened to her when he left. No one knew, but he had a right to know… that is if she chose to tell him.

Hermione was watching a muggle news update, when she heard a knock at the door.

'Hermione?' came the voice. Hermione didn't say anything, but stayed in her position and ignore it. 'I know you're in there. Please Hermione, we need to talk.'

'Go away,' she croaked.

'I will do no such thing.' Hermione jumped as she realised that he was standing right behind her.

'How did you get in here?' she exclaimed. He tapped his wand against his head.

'Magic, my dear Hermione. I thought that you out of all people would charm the door so that magic couldn't break through it.'

'You had no right to come in here. This counts as breaking in.'

'I had to come and talk to you, Hermione.'

'What do you want Fred?'

'You really have no idea how to tell us apart, do you? I'm George,' he said pointing at the dark hole where his ear should be. 'You think that the missing an ear thing would be obvious but I guess not.'

'Fine. What do you want _George_?' Hermione said irritably.

'To talk about Fred.'

'Why?'

'He told me everything. Where he's been, his marriage, his relationship with you…'

'There isn't a relationship anymore so you can just leave,' she said, pointing at the door. George pushed her hand back down.

'He doesn't understand why you ran out on him, and I don't quite understand either,' George sighed. 'Would you like to tell me?'

'Did he put you up to this?'

'He doesn't even know I'm here.'

'Why should this be any concern to you?' she said, really not wanting to tell George why.

'Because he's my twin and I just got him back after five years. He's been moping around the loft, not wanting to come down unless you had shown up. I talked to Kingsley and he said you haven't been at work either, so I came to find you.'

'Not to put a downer on your efforts, but I have no intention of seeing your brother anytime soon. Now will you please leave!' commanded Hermione. George shook his head and put his hands on Hermione's shoulders.

'Hermione, listen to me. You're not doing anyone any good if you don't tell anyone what's bothering you. You don't even have to tell Fred, just tell someone that can pass the message long.' Hermione was shocked that George could say such words, but yet he was right. Why was everyone smarter than she was all of a sudden?

'When did you get so smart?' she asked after a few moments hesitation.

'I was the lucky twin. So are you going to tell me?' he asked hopefully.

'No.'

'Figured as much. Can I ask why?'

'If I'm going to tell anyone, it should be Fred. He should at least hear it from me than someone else.' Suddenly, there was another tapping at the door.

'Hermione?'

'What's he doing here?' Hermione exclaimed under her breath.

X -- X

Fred waited outside Hermione's apartment. He had just got the address off Ginny and was off to see why she ran off from their last meeting. He had told the truth, she was the first to know, yet she ran away crying. Had he hurt her for getting married before? _She should have said something instead of running off like that_, Fred thought.

He knocked on the door again. 'Hermione? I know you're in there, I can hear you!' He did consider that she might have one of those muggle boxes with the moving pictures and had left it running, but he wasn't going to take that chance. He knocked on the door. He would sit outside of the apartment if he had to, he wasn't leaving.

_Wait, what was that?_ He asked himself. Voices. There was someone inside. He pressed his ear against the door to listen. Hermione was in there, he could hear her. And there was someone else… George? What the hell was he doing there? Wrong things jumped to Fred's mind, but he knew both of them better than that.

'Hermione! I know you're in there!' he rapped on the door a little louder. 'Open up!' after a moment he added a 'please?'

He could hear movement and his twin telling Hermione that she had to face him sooner or later. He heard the unlocking of locks and Hermione finally opened the door.

He smiled at her, relieved that he could see her again. Her hair was a little bushier than usual and there were slight bags underneath her eyes but she was still beautiful in his mind.

'What are you doing here, Fred?' she asked half-heartedly.

'I need to talk to you.'

'Hey bro, wassup?' George asked coming up behind Hermione.

'What are you doing here?'

'Same thing as you, I expect.'

'Wait… if we're here, who's watching the store?' George's eyes widen.

'Damn it. Hermione, I'm gonna go-'

'I understand. Go on,' Hermione said, managing a smile though really she was glad he was leaving.

He gave her a quick hug and whispered 'Don't forget what I told you.' Hermione nodded letting George out to apparate back to the shop.

'I suppose you would like to come in?' she asked Fred.

'If you don't mind that is,' he smiled.

'I do but I will allow it this one time.' She stepped out of the way to let him through. Her apartment was nice; she had done pretty well for herself. It was just slightly… messy.

'This is a nice place you have here, 'Mione. It's just a little messier than I thought it would be,' he said, making her blush.

'Well… I haven't been myself recently, and this isn't like me at all,' she insisted, flicking her wand and letting the messes clean up themselves.

'I thought you didn't like using magic for cleaning?'

'Once in a while is ok. Now do you want to say something to me? Otherwise leave.'

'Why did you run out on me the other day? I thought you would be happy that I was back.'

'It's… it's complicated,' she admitted.

'What's so complicated? You told me yourself that we used to tell each other everything. You know you can talk to me.'

Hermione drew in a breath…

* * *

**A/N: **_OMG! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!!_

_I had written like another 3 pages in this chapter when suddenly I was hit with inspiration for another alternate ending. So I just HAD to use it and therefore ended the chapter here. I'm almost finished it right now… so expect update. _

_For all those readers who read _Time Weave_, _Magic of Lily _or _Loss of Innocence_, the next chapters are coming! I've just been really into this story and can't really focus on the others while I have so much to write for this one. Again, FORGIVE ME!!_

_Until next time,_

_Creative Touch_

_P.S. I wrote the first version of this chapter in one day, again… but then had to sleepover at a friend's house before putting it up. But I was glad I didn't otherwise my new ending would haven't worked! YAY for friends! _


	8. Chapter 8

* * *

Last time:

'_Why did you run out on me the other day? I thought you would be happy that I was back.'_

'_It's… it's complicated,' she admitted._

'_What's so complicated? You told me yourself that we used to tell each other everything. You know you can talk to me.' _

_Hermione drew in a breath…_

* * *

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

**Filling in the Gap**

**Chapter 8**

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

How could she resist telling him? He was concerned about her well-being. He was pushing her buttons, trying to get her to open up to him. How she hated the fact that he could still do that after five years.

'I just can't Fred. It's too hard on me,' she said knowing that tears were already forming.

'Why is it so hard, 'Mione? I told you everything that had happened to me. Why can't you just tell me?' he argued with her.

'Please Fred, not now,' she begged.

'No Hermione. I've been waiting for days wanting to know. You can't torture me like this anymore. I'm not leaving until you tell me what's up.'

'The sky – now leave.'

'Haha, Miss Granger. You officially amuse me. But seriously, what's bothering you?'

'Why do you care so much?'

'Because I do. I could never stop caring about you… it's in my nature,' he said, walking up to her and ran his fingers through her hair.

'But what about Angelina?' she asked. Fred stopped running his fingers and stared at her.

'What about Ange?'

'I saw you… together… hugging,' she said sheepishly.

Fred threw back his head and laughed. 'Oh Hermione sweetheart, that was nothing. Things didn't work out between us since I left Hogwarts. She's still a good friend, and she had a right to know that I was alive, no?'

Hermione nodded, feeling the blush creep up her neck. She felt so stupid for thinking something was going on between them.

'Now that's out of the way, wanna talk?' he asked. _Tell him, _her mind screamed at her. _**No**_**, **she argued back. _Why? He hasn't done anything wrong. __**He left for five years. **__But he has a right to know. __**So what? No one knows and life seems pretty good right now. **__Just tell him because it will eat you up inside if you don't. __**Why do you have to be so… right all the time?**_

'Anytime you want to say something is ok by me,' Fred's scared voice shattered her thoughts. She realised how stupid she must have looked just staring into space for god knows how long.

_Tell him!! NOW! __**No way!**__ Fine be that way, don't come running to me when things go wrong_She finally gave in to herself.

'I don't know Fred. It was just a lot to take in I suppose. I mean I lived five years wondering about you and then you appear out of nowhere. I guess, it was a bit too much to handle,' she made up on the spot. _I hope he buys that._

Fred sighed in relief, 'Ok good. For a moment then, I thought you were angry or upset with me. I wouldn't know how to deal if you were. So those tears were tears of joy?'

'Um… yeah, sure...' Hermione let out a nervous laugh.

'Then why run off?' he asked.

'I just needed some space.'

'Oh… I guess I shouldn't have intruded then,' he said turning slightly pink.

'It's OK. I guess I should have told you,' she sighed. She was glad that this lie was working for the both of them. 'How have you been?'

'Oh you know… worried. I didn't know what I said or did that made you react like that. But now that I know you're ok, I feel better.'

'I'm… glad.'

'You know, we're alone now… and there aren't any secrets being kept from us, right?'

'_Yes there is actually' _Hermione said in her head but what came out was: 'Yeah, we have a clean slate now.'

'I never ever forgot about us, 'Mione. It broke my heart when I saw you kissing Ron, and it hurt even more having to leave you. I never want us to be apart again,' Fred breathed, caressing her face with his hand.

Hermione knew what was happening. He still loved her, and she loved him. She was falling for him all over again, but this time it hurt. She was keeping something from him; he wanted to start all over again on this clean slate that she happened to say.

She really wanted this. More than anything else. She wanted to give in to his sultry voice, to let him hold her as he once did, to make love to him as she had remembered it. Hermione wanted to let go of everything, forget about everything and stay forever in his arms. Speaking of his arms, they were starting to wrap themselves around her small waist.

'Fred… I…' Hermione started, moving away from him.

'Shh…' he soothed. He took a step closer and leaned in. Hermione felt her heart beat hard against her ribcage. She wanted to move in further, to touch those lips with her own. But he beat her to it.

Fred's lips crashed on top of hers and she remembered everything. Why she loved him, how she loved him, when this first happened, how they got together… everything. His lips were warm and soft and Ron's kisses were worthless compared to his.

He deepened the kiss, trying to put five years of passion into that one kiss. Hermione melted into his gentle kiss. She felt like she was put under the Imperius curse: an untraceable happiness filling her up. _You should have told him_ said a very annoying voice in Hermione's head, _you would enjoy it a lot more if you told him the truth_. Hermione broke the kiss, leaving Fred looking startled.

'I'm sorry Fred,' she whispered, tears starting to leak from her eyes. 'I can't do this. Not again.'

'What? Why Hermione?' he rushed.

'It's been to long. Too much has happened. I just broke up with Ron. It's just too fast,' she cried.

'But I love -,' Hermione put her digit to his lips, silencing him.

'Please, _please _don't say it.'

'I _love _you, Hermione,' he said firmly.

'Please Fred, no. Don't make me do this'

'Then talk to me. Don't tell me what I can't do without giving me a good reason,' he said as she moved away from him, refusing to let him touch her.

'I'm sorry Fred. Just leave me be,' she continued to sob.

'No. Not till you tell me what's really going on here,' he grabbed her wrist. She jerked away from him, even though his grip wasn't that tight.

'Just go, Fred!' she wept.

'Not until you tell me what's really bothering you,' he said, his voice getting louder. Hermione pushed him out of her way as she made her way to the door. Hermione grabbed her jacket and ran into the hallway before apparating to an unknown place.

Fred wasn't quite sure what had just happened. He ran his fingers through his flaming red hair, trying to understand the situation. Fred sat on the sofa and put his head in his hands. This wasn't exactly what he expected to happen. Why did she break the kiss? He just had to know. He was going to sit there until she came back. It was her apartment after all, she would be back soon… he would just have to be patient.

* * *

**A/N: **_If I stopped writing these chapters in a day, maybe they would suck less._

_This chapter is a) short and b) sorta lame. I know, forgive me. Currently writing the next chapter, and the all my other fics. Whilst I write this a/n, I have 6 word documents opened for writing. Even though I have 4 stories… I'm sorta writing ahead in some._

_Anyways, you all know how much I love reviews. I would like to see more._

_And more votes. Reviews and votes. _

_Update will probably be later today (its 1:30pm here) or sometime tomorrow. Whenever, it won't be a long wait. I promise._

_Lots of Love,  
__Creative Touch_

_xxx_


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: **_Ok… so I said that I would get this chapter out the other day but I didn't. Why? Because a family friend died in the early hours of the day this was supposed to be posted. And I just didn't feel like writing that much afterwards. _

**

* * *

**

Last time:

… _Why did she break the kiss? He just had to know. He was going to sit there until she came back. It was her apartment after all, she would be back soon… he would just have to be patient. _

* * *

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

**Filling in the Gap**

**Chapter 9**

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

'I just want to talk to her,' she heard Fred's voice say.

'Fred, she really doesn't want to see you,' Harry replied.

'Please Harry, just let me see her.'

'Go home, Fred. She's made it clear she's not up for visitors. Just give her some time, mate.'

'Just… just tell her I came by, ok?'

'I will.' Hermione listened in from upstairs, bending down low and peering through the bars on the staircase. She could only see Harry but she knew that Fred was just outside… again. She never came home: she knew he would be waiting for her so she didn't return. She had crashed at Ginny and Harry's for the past week or so. Ginny was more than happy to have another female in the house and Harry, trying to stay on Ginny's good side, just let her in like any good friend would, no questions asked.

'Hermione… what are you doing?' she heard someone whisper.

'Oh hi Ginny. Nothing…' she started to straighten up.

'He came back didn't he?' Ginny asked, her hands folding on her pregnant stomach. Hermione gave her a small smile and nodded. Fred wasn't stupid and once he figured out her plan, he was on the search for her again. She was pretty sure that it was George who let it slip on where she was hiding, for he had come around to ask if Ginny and Harry had heard from her but he unfortunately ran into her at the same time. Knowing there was no where else to hide, she just stayed at Ginny and Harry's place. 'You should talk to him'

'I'm not ready for that Ginny. I know I'm being a burden to you and Harry…'

'You aren't Hermione!' Ginny said giving Hermione a hug. 'You would do the same for me if something happened between Harry and me'

'Like anything can happen to the perfect couple.'

'Even Harry and I have our fights. Not every relationship is perfect.'

'Oh so you say.' Hermione let out a breath. 'I just can't get my head around things.'

'I understand. I still can't believe that Fred was married. Or that you two were even together.' Hermione had explained everything to Harry and Ginny, they had a right to know why she was hiding from Fred. 'But you really should talk to him. He's not going to stop coming unless he talks to you. As much as I love you and love having you around, you can't stay here forever.'

'See… I knew I was being a burden to you,' Hermione frowned.

'I didn't mean it that way, just that you can't hide from him forever. You're gonna have to talk to him, sooner or later.'

'I hate it that everyone has become smarter than me,' Hermione grumbled.

Ginny let out a giggle. 'No one is smarter than Hermione Granger. Just more experienced, I suppose. Or just looks at the situations differently. Just because you are the brightest witch of your age doesn't mean that you know everything.'

'Yes it does,' she said defensively.

'No it doesn't. You still have time to learn,' Ginny smiled.

'You're getting too smart for your own good,' Hermione said, playfully poking Ginny's swelling baby bump.

'Oh now you've done it,' Ginny laughed, her hand resting on the part of her stomach that Hermione poked. 'He's now going to have a poking fight with you thinking you're his father. Harry does it all the time so he's learnt to fight back.'

Hermione giggled, poking a new area. 'You're still convinced it's a boy. Harry should be happy with that.'

'He would be ecstatic if it's a boy. Personally I want a girl because growing up with six brothers is bad enough. But I think I'm stuck with a boy here.'

'And if it isn't?' Hermione asked, still poking.

'We'd still be happy. But if I'm wrong and it's not a boy, I'll eat a hippogriff! Stop poking him!' she laughed throwing her hands protectively over her bump.

'Fine… but blame Harry if he comes out with finger indents all over his skull. He's been doing it for way longer than me.'

'I didn't think about that… see you're still smarter than me,' she said, patting Hermione's hand fondly. 'Bet you ten sickles that it's a boy.'

Hermione laughed at her. 'You're betting on your own baby's sex? That's something that I would do with your husband, or one of your brothers.'

'Aww… scared that my maternal extincts may be right?' Ginny pouted.

'No way. You're on.'

'Ginny! What are you doing up!?' Harry exclaimed from the staircase.

'And here comes my over-protective husband,' Ginny murmured to Hermione. Hermione had to stifle a laugh as Harry came over.

'You need bed rest, now,' Harry said sternly.

'Yeah, yeah,' Ginny waved a hand at him, 'I'm going. Sorry if I was taking care of our guest,' she said in a huff.

'I'm sure you're intentions were good but now I'm telling you to get back into bed,' Harry urged, pushing her along, trying to make her go faster.

'Harry, I can walk on my own!'

'I know you can, Gin. But you can't walk very fast,' Harry said, scooping her up in his arms effortlessly and carrying her to the bedroom. Hermione smiled at the two as they disappeared into the room. After a moment, Harry returned, shutting the door quietly behind him.

'You OK, 'Mione?' he asked.

'Yeah, I'm fine. Are you sure that's OK for me to stay?'

'Yeah, sure. Why wouldn't it be?'

'I don't want to intrude on you and Ginny, especially with the baby coming.'

'You're not intruding at all,' he smiled. 'But I do however, think that you should talk to Fred. He's not going to give up without a fight, and you know it.'

'I know,' she breathed. 'It's just too much, you know.'

'It is a bit. But you should give him a chance,' he gave her a hug. 'Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go make Ginny some dinner. Do you want anything?'

'Ah… no thanks, Harry.'

'Consider what I said,' he said before disappearing downstairs. Not knowing what to do next, Hermione let herself wonder from room to room. Harry and Ginny's house wasn't that huge, it was a decent sized house. But Hermione still got confused every now and then.

Hermione came across a room that gave off the scent of fresh paint and lavender. She walked in, curious of what was behind the door.

She entered a room that was a pale green, and all the furniture was white. She stepped in to see that it was going to be the baby's room. The carpet felt soft under her bare feet and she could see nothing but blue sky from the window. She walked further in, taking in everything.

Hermione ran over her hand over the circular crib and smiled all-knowingly. She playfully turned the mobile of snitches above the head of the crib.

'I knew you would come in sooner or later,' she spoke out.

'How did you know that I would find a way in?' he asked. She whipped around and smiled at Fred.

'I just let my old self take over. And my old self could smell you a mile away… in a good way,' she added.

'I would like to know what happened to the old Hermione Granger since she's back. She is back, right?'

'Only if you want her to be'

Fred pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. 'I do.'

'Where do you want her to start?'

'How about where we last left off?'

'Alright then…'

* * *

**A/N: **_Yay- cliffie_

_I may have hit a little snag here._

_I __KNOW__ what's going to happen. But the plot bunnies are attacking my other stories at the moment and even some ideas that haven't yet been expressed onto paper._

_If anyone has some advice to keep away these plot bunnies, and I mean the really annoying ones, away so that the others can get a chance… give it to me!_

_Review can help feed the good plot bunnies, so supply me!_

_Lots of Love,  
__Creative Touch_


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: **_I just have to dedicate this to _Jade Wildcat _for actually guessing correctly. Oh and my kudos to _kayko15 _for coming close. XP_

* * *

Last time:

'_Where do you want her to start?'_

'_How about where we last left off?'_

'_Alright then…'_

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X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

**Filling in the Gap**

**Chapter 10**

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

'I need you to come with me,' said Hermione.

'Come where?' he asked confused.

'Just trust me,' she held out her hand, indicating that side-along Apparation was required in the situation. Nervously, Fred took her hand, noting how warm and soft they felt. He held onto them as he began to feel like he was pushing through a very tight tube. He didn't know why people hated apparating so much – it was so much fun! And very convenient at the best of times.

Their feet hit the ground, and the sound of birds chirping somewhere in the distance filled Fred's ears. He still held onto Hermione's hands: he had wanted to hold them for so long, and just being able to touch them again was overwhelming for Fred.

'Um… Fred? We're here. You can let go now.' Fred pretty much dropped Hermione's hands out of sudden shock. Hermione giggled as he felt blush creep slowly up his neck.

'Where are we?' he said in an attempt to deflect attention.

'Take a look,' she told him with a small smile. He looked around…

It was a graveyard.

There were tombstones all aligned in rows as far as the eye could see, and flowers magically growing in front each one. For a graveyard, it wasn't depressing or scary but somewhat pleasant. Or perhaps that was because it was a beautiful sunny day and everything was looking particularly beautiful in its glow. He could feel his lips twitch in an attempt to smile at the sight but that would seem pretty weird to smile at a graveyard.

It was then that it came to his attention that Hermione had vanished. He could see her some odd twenty feet from where he was. She was kneeling in front of a tombstone and was tracing its carvings with her finger. Fred followed her, his eyes immediately snapping to the tombstone:

_Here lies  
Fredric__k Gideon Weasley_

_April 1__st__ 1978 – May 2__nd__ 1998_

_Beloved son, brother and friend. _

_Died in knowledge of the consequences to save others_

_Will always live on in the hearts of those who love him_

'I guess that it isn't you under here,' she whispered, her hand patting the ground in front of it.

Fred gave a weak chuckle, 'I guess not.' He took out his wand and tapped the tombstone, muttering what he wanted it to do under his breath. The words vanished on the tombstone, only to be replaced by:

_Here lies_

_An unknown death eater_

_Died on May 2__nd__ 1998_

_Believed to be making a better world in their eyes,_

_And who could blame them for trying?_

The writing wasn't quite as neat as the inscription on his headstone but it was legible enough to read. Hermione eyed him after reading the last few lines. Fred shrugged, 'what else was I suppose to say?' Hermione let out a small weak laugh. 'Who wrote mine?'

Hermione looked up at him. 'I did.'

'You?'

'Me,' she confirmed. 'No one really knew what to say. There were so many ways of saying how much we loved you and how much we would miss you and we didn't know which ones to choose. In the end, I just did it. No one objected and it just felt right.' She got up from her crouching position, 'I guess I thought you should see it first before I tell you everything.

'I never regretted being with you, Fred. In fact, I'm pretty sure I loved you. More than I ever though I could. If I didn't then I don't know why I kept wanting to come back to you during the war, why I couldn't stopped thinking about you, why I wanted to stay with you forever…'

'Hermione, I loved you a lot. And I still do. Even when you disappeared, every time I saw you, it made it worth waiting.'

Hermione looked deeply into his eyes. 'So you remember how fast we were moving with the relationship?' she asked.

'Well… it wasn't _fast_. We were going out for like two years… Hermione, I don't quite see what you're getting at here.'

'Neither do I' Hermione said, trying desperately to stay staring into his eyes. She wanted to see them sparkle, wanted them to shine. But all that was there was darkness. All this wondering around in circles had made Fred nothing.

'I'm so confused,' he said putting his head into his hands.

'You know when you said that you left because you thought she was pregnant with your baby?'

'Yes. But there was no baby,' he replied, wondering where this was going.

'You're wrong. There was a baby,' Hermione breathed.

'What?' he said bewildered.

'I was pregnant, Fred. I was only a couple weeks along when you died and no one knew yet. Not Harry, not Ron… and obviously not you. The truth about the kiss with Ron was that it was partially my pregnant hormones getting at me.'

'Are you saying that you had my baby?'

Hermione shook her head. 'I was still so young. And after the war, as beautiful as the idea of a baby, I just couldn't do it. You were gone and I couldn't stand any reminders of you, let alone your child. I was so confused and scared… I didn't know what to do. I wasn't ready to take on motherhood. So I aborted the pregnancy.'

'You had an abortion?' he questioned her.

'I just couldn't handle it, Fred. You weren't around to help, no one else would have liked it, and there were so many reasons not to have the baby and so few to have it. In the end, I went to the healers and aborted it. I sometimes have weak moments where I did regret it, but I couldn't change what had happened.' Tears were now falling down her face.

'I understand, Hermione,' Fred croaked, looking on the verge of tears as well.

'You – you do?'

'I do. It must have been hard not knowing what to do. And being who you are, it would have been very frustrating too.' She let out a watery chuckle. He cupped her face and pushed away her tears with his thumbs. 'I really just don't understand why you couldn't tell me this before.'

'I didn't know how you would react. We were going to have a baby and now thanks to me, we don't even have that.'

'Shh… don't talk like that,' he murmured, pushing her head into his chest and began stroking her hair. 'If it's anything, it's my fault. I just wish none of this had happened. That I never ran away and got married, that you and I could still be together and raised our child together. I'm sorry for what I've done to you 'Mione.'

Hermione smiled her first true smile in weeks, ever since her break-up with Ron. She could feel her muscles protest to the movement, for she hadn't done it in so long. But Hermione fought against herself and let the smile play on her lips. Who would have thought that one of her best smiles would be for Fred Weasley?

* * *

**A/N: **_So that is the big secret that I, personally, think it was a bit over-dramatic. But then again, it's just my opinion._

_Tell me what your opinions are on the secret. _

_Sorry on the very late update but my computer is being a pain. And I have other stories to update as well. And not to mention, a life outside of writing. I can't believe it either but I have friends – who don't appreciate HP but I still love them. _

_Oh and I looked it up on when exactly was the date of the Final Battle – and apparently it was May 2__nd__. I had a random guess of May 11__th__ but I guess I was wrong. Oh well… _

_Lots of Love,  
__Creative Touch_


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:**_I dedicated this chapter to one Ms_**Cassandra's Cross**_, who writes a very gripping tale, called _Great Expectations_. My suggestion: read it. Just because I'm not epilogue faithful doesn't mean that I can't enjoy reading stories that are._

I decided to do a flashback in this chapter. Hope you don't mind!

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Last time:

_Hermione smiled her first true smile in weeks, ever since her break-up with Ron. She could feel her muscles protest to the movement, for she hadn't done it in so long. But Hermione fought against herself and let the smile play on her lips. Who would have thought that one of her best smiles would be for Fred Weasley?_

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X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

**Filling in the Gap**

**Chapter 11**

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'C'mon Hermione,' Fred whined. 'Just one kiss'

'Fred, we have to take this slowly,' Hermione repeated in a huff. 'Last time, we just rushed through it and the result was me getting pregnant!'

'Hermione,' Fred rolled his eyes. 'It has been a week. A week! This isn't slow, this is just you dawdling. C'mon...'

'No Fred!' Fred pouted at her. 'Don't you make those puppy dog eyes at me: otherwise you'll get zip.' Fred's expression didn't change. 'Please Fred,' she sighed. 'Can we at least spend some time together before we do any… indulging?'

'Indulging? I'm asking for a simple kiss 'Mione! Not sex. Although…' Fred trailed off with a wistful look in his eye.

'Oh no you don't. And I'm just not ready for that Fred. At least… not yet… I think'

'You think?' Hermione gave him a simple look. 'Fine. You're the smart one here. When will you be? Ready that is?'

'Soon. I promise I won't keep you waiting for long,' she said as she rested her head against his torso. She listened to his heart beat and moved with the rising and falling of his chest as he breathed.

Fred and Hermione were snuggled up on Hermione's couch watching some movies on the TV. Normally these things would interest Fred, or make him wonder, but he had no care for the movies right now. He wanted Hermione. He wanted what he had been waiting for the past five and a half years. He was entitled for one kiss after all he had been through, right?

He looked down at Hermione. Apparently not. Hermione didn't think he deserved a kiss from his one and only. At least, he was positive that was how she felt. After all, why would she keep him waiting for one kiss if normally she would be all over him at this point in the movie?

'SO what did you think?' Hermione asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

'Huh?' Fred responded

'The movie,' she sounded as though it was routine.

'Eh,' he shrugged. 'Seems like all the others. Boy meets girl. Boy likes girl. Girl's dad threatens boy with shotgun…or screws up their first kiss…'

'Hey! It's one of my favourites.'

'They are _all_ your favourites 'Mione'

'I think it reminds me of us. The way we used to be…' she smiled sadly to herself.

'What do you mean?' he asked dumbfounded. Though really he hadn't been paying attention to the movie.

'Do you remember when we first got together?' she began.

'Uh… I don't know what this has to do with anything…'

'Just answer the question,' she smiled softly.

'Well… of course. How could I not with you looking so cute in that silvery-blue scarf and beanie?' he said causing Hermione blush.

'You remember what I wore?'

'Of course. That night was perfect. I had gotten to kiss the amazing Hermione Granger and keep her all to myself.'

­_-Flashback-_

_It was a cold winter's day at Number 12 Grimmauld Place. They had come back from seeing Mr. Weasley at St. Mungo's and were now anxiously awaiting the New Year. _

_Hermione came out of Buckbeak's room, where she was hiding so that she could read New Theory of Numerology that she had received for Christmas from Harry. She had been there for a fair couple of hours but figured that since it was New Year's Eve, she better go find the others to celebrate it with. She was reciting what she had just read under her breath (it helped her remember) when she ran into someone._

'_Hey Hermione, watch where you're going!' George said fiercely as he pushed past her. Hermione was startled at his reaction but then she heard a soft chuckle._

'_Hey 'Mione. It's OK. He's in a foul mood because a) he couldn't cheer mum up about no-show Percy and b) its his turn to try a new product and it involves half a pound of Doxy droppings,' Fred laughed. _

'_Uggh… that's horrible that you would do that to your brother,' she scolded._

_Fred shrugged. 'So what are you doing out here in this hallway? Shouldn't you be with my half-brained brother, getting ready for a snog-fest?' _

'_I do __not__ like Ron,' she snapped. _

'_Sure, you don't. And I'm a grindylow.'_

'_I DON'T,' she growled. 'I like someone else.' The words slipped out of her mouth before she had gotten the chance to stop them._

'_Whoa… who did cupid's arrow hit?' Fred asked very amused._

'_Uh… none of your business.'_

'_Oh c'mon Hermione,' he pouted. 'I won't laugh.'_

'_Yes you will,' she insisted._

'_C'mon… tell me.'_

'_No!'_

'_Fine but you give me no choice,' he snatched her book from her hands and flipped open the cover. He picked up the first page and a ripping sound came._

'_Fred, stop it!' she gasped as she tried to retrieve her book._

'_Nope, not until you tell me,' Fred smirked, tearing out the whole page and starting on the next one. 'Is it Krum?'_

'_No! Now give me back my book!'_

'_Is it Harry?'_

'_Oh dear god, no.' Fred lifted the book out of her reach and continued to rip out the pages. The sound was torture to Hermione's ears. _

'_Why can't you just tell me?' At that moment, Hermione stood on her tiptoes and kissed him lightly on the lips._

'_Because it's you,' she whispered. Fred dropped the book out of pure shock, letting it land on the floor with a loud thud. Hermione was frightened of what had just happened and would happen next, but nothing could prepare her for Fred's reaction. Fred swooped down and kissed her passionately on the mouth. Hermione was shocked but pleased all the same._

_After a moment, he broke the kiss, grinning. He lifted up his sleeve and looked at his watch. '12:01… Happy New Year,' he said before beginning to kiss her again._

_- End Flashback -_

'Sorta like the movie, eh?'

'I suppose,' he shrugged.

'You weren't watching were you?' she raised an eyebrow at him.

'Yeah I was!' Fred said defensively.

'What was the main character's name then?'

'Um… Chloe?' Hermione shook her head annoyed at her boyfriend. 'No, no… I was just kidding. Samantha?'

'Wrong again. I'm trying to make up for the time we missed Fred. At least you could do is pay attention to the movie.'

'Hermione, like we would spend almost six years watching movies that all end the same way,' he said throwing his hands up in the air.

'But at least that I'm trying to make an effort,' she growled.

'I did try! You were the one who wouldn't get on that broom!' Fred retorted.

'Oh,' Hermione let out a fake laugh. 'Yes, me with my fear of falling and crashing really has "put me on a broom" written all over it. You know me better than that.'

'You never know,' Fred shrugged. 'Maybe my brother may have gotten you over that fear.'

'If you couldn't, or Harry, or Ginny… what makes you think Ron could?' When Fred didn't have a response to this, Hermione let out a loud annoyed sigh. She attempted to get up, only to be pulled back down by Fred. 'Fred! Let go of me!'

'No, you're angry at me.' Fred held on to her waist as she began to squirm out of his grip.

'Well… this isn't helping! Let go!' Hermione thrashed around in his arms only to accidentally elbow him in the face. It did the trick. Fred instantly moved his hands from her waist to his face. 'Oh my god! I'm so sorry. Did I hurt you?' Hermione yelped as Fred groaned in pain and shock. 'Oh my god, I'm so sorry!'

'Ahh… I think you may have damaged my eye or something,' Fred pointed to his right eye whilst blinking rapidly. 'It's all blurry.'

'Do you need anything? Water? Pillow? Anything?' Hermione was acting like he had just had a stroke or something. She began to place pillows around him which was starting to scare Fred.

'Hermione – just…' In all the comosion of moving cushions Hermione's forehead collided with Fred's. 'Ow' Fred mumbled as Hermione moved away, wide eyed at what she had just accomplished.

'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do… any of that' she squeaked. Fred, with still hand rubbing his eye, gave her a small smile.

'It was an accident. It's OK.'

'I know what can make that eye feel better?' But before Fred could say 'what?' Hermione swept down and pecked him lightly on his eye, taking Fred by surprise.

'All better?' she smiled.

'I think I'll live,' Fred smirked as Hermione kissed the spot where she had bumped her forehead against his.

'Did I hit you anywhere else?'

'Um… yeah… just here,' Fred made gesture indicating his mouth. Hermione smirked as she gently kissed Fred on the lips…

Again and again and again…

* * *

_**A/N:**__Aww… isn't Fremione fluff the cutest?_

_Oh and the flashback is set during OOTP… which sounds very obvious now that I think about it._

_I figured seeing as last chapter was pretty overdue and was short – I would get this one out at the same time. Ignore the length, please. I also updated some other stories and a couple of oneshots – one which is a Fremione shot. Read them!_

_Anyways, i think I may be on a roll… its all about the computer now. So wish me luck. Lots of it… through Reviews! You know I love it ;)_

_Infinite X's and O's,  
Creative Touch _


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: **_Long chapter here. Dunno why I made it so long. I could have broken it up into several short pieces but I couldn't be bothered. ENJOY!_ : D

* * *

Last time:

'_Did I hit you anywhere else?'_

'_Um… yeah… just here,' Fred made gesture indicating his mouth. Hermione smirked as she gently kissed Fred on the lips…_

_Again and again and again…

* * *

_

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

**Filling in the Gap**

**Chapter 12**

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

Hermione woke up fairly early in the morning. She had a tendency to do so. She had to be efficient, organised, planned ahead of time, follow schedules… but today she decided to go against that. Normally she would never do such a thing, not even on her (very few) days off. Nothing, in most cases, got in between her and her work. But she just wanted to do something different for a change. For one, she was lying in bed with Fred's arm loosely wrapped around her slim figure.

As the activities of last night came flowing back to her, Hermione couldn't help but smile at the memories. Fred was right, who wanted to go slow? This was sooo much better. It had been over five years since she could lie in his arms and it now felt so damn good. His breath was slow as he slumbered and tickled her bare back. She rolled over so that she came face to face with him.

'Morning,' Hermione giggled softly, snuggling up closer.

'Not morning. Still time for sleep,' Fred yawned.

'You slept plenty last night'

'What time is it?' he groaned sleepily, eyes still shut.

'Almost seven…'

'That's not enough sleep. Wake me up later… when the sun is actually fully up,' Fred moaned.

'The sun _is _up…'

'It's still dark…'

'That's because your eyes are shut.'

'Hermione, the sun doesn't normally fully rise for another half an hour. Let me have that… and another couple of hours after that.'

Hermione ignored his sleepy comments. 'You don't have to be at the shop today, do you?' Hermione asked, hoping that he could stay for a little longer… for a bit more "catching up". She began to brush some of his hair off his forehead and kissed him gently.

'I'm the boss. Well… one of them. I can come in whenever I want,' he smirked softly, and tightened his grip around her waist. Hermione giggled as he pulled her closer, his eyes fluttering open at the same time, glad that he had woken up a bit more. 'Last night was pretty amazing. _You _were amazing. I probably was a bit out of practice…'

'Well… if you stay… we can ensure that practice makes perfect,' she whispered seductively as she began to attack his jaw.

'Sounds like a plan,' Fred kissed her. Hermione melted within his arms at the amount of pressure that was being applied to her lips. Her hands ran over his muscular chest as his ran over familiar paths over her body. All of a sudden, Fred stopped and pulled away, a confused look etched upon his face. 'What was that?'

'What was what?' Hermione said bemused.

'That sound…' a tapping sound echoed throughout the room. '_That _sound'. Hermione, rather annoyingly, rolled over and could see an owl's shadow on the wall, indicating that there probably was one outside.

'Ugh… who on earth would send an owl this early?' Hermione moaned, swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

'Your boss?' Fred supplied

'Maybe…' she grabbed the closest item of clothing and put it on, which happened to be Fred's shirt. She walked over to the window and opened it, letting the cold wind enter the room, making Fred wrap the sheets more over his body. The barn owl loyally stuck out its leg for Hermione to take the letter attached to it. Hermione removed the scroll of parchment and the bird flew off. Hermione unrolled the parchment…

_Hermione,_

_As you know, today is Ron's birthday and I plan on having a family dinner tonight at the Burrow. I know that you and Ron have broken up, but I'm sure he will appreciate if you came. _

_Everyone will be arriving at seven tonight._

_Hope to see you there,_

_Molly._

'Oh crap…' was all Hermione could say. Fred sat up, wondering what the letter could have said.

'What is it?'

'Your mother…' This made Fred's eyes widen.

'What does she want?'

'Dinner… tonight…for Ron's birthday…' Hermione sighed. 'What a mess! I forgot that it was Ron's birthday today.'

'So?' Fred frowned as he watched her tremble a little. She began to twist one of her brown curls, a known fact that she did when she was scared or worried. 'What are you so stressed about? It's just his birthday.'

Hermione dropped the curl. 'No, it's not that. It's more of the fact… that he doesn't know yet,' she breathed, sitting back down on the bed.

'He doesn't know what?' Fred asked, moving over and wrapping his arms around her. He felt Hermione tense up in his arms as he gave her a peck on her cheek.

'About us.' Fred sorta had expected that answer… after all they had been meaning to tell people. 'Unless you've said something…?' she looked at him with hopeful eyes but there was something else mixed in with them. Fear? Embarrassment? Pity? Guilt?

Fred shook his head, 'no. I didn't know if you wanted people to know… but I've told George. He's my twin, that's a given. What about you? You didn't tell…?'

'No one… well except Harry and Ginny. They're my best friends, they had to know… and I did sort of hide out at their place. But no one else? I mean… no one told Ron or your mother or…?'

'If you didn't, I sure as hell didn't. And I think we can trust George and Gin not to tell anyone, otherwise we wouldn't have said anything in the first place.' They stayed silent for a moment, Hermione resting her head on Fred's shoulder as they thought about the situation that was presented before them. 'Do you want to tell them?' Fred finally asked.

'Not really… you?' Hermione murmured.

'Never really thought about it before, truthfully. But if you're not ready-'

'I am. Believe me, I am. I just don't know how they could handle it, I mean. I've barely just broken up with Ron, you only just came back and it will be a bit… fast, don't you think?'

'I thought we established last night that we didn't want to go slow?'

'In our relationship, yes. But they might think otherwise… and it's his birthday. Don't you think that we can give him a less… "cheerful" gift than telling him his ex-girlfriend of five years is dating his brother only a couple of weeks after she refused his proposal and dumped him? Yeah… definitely a birthday to remember,' Hermione rambled on. Fred gave her a quizzical look.

'You do realise that people will make their own assumptions sooner or later.'

'We'll be stealth,' she assured.

'Do you realise what we're doing?' Fred pushed some of her curls behind her ear and cupped her face. 'We are going back to our old ways. Back to sneaking around, keeping our love from preying eyes… the only difference is that this time a few more people know. Is this really what you want?' his voice was filled with wonder and curiosity. She looked deeply into his eyes and saw that he didn't want to return to a life of secrecy and hiding. He had done it for too long…

'No,' she admitted, 'but not tonight. Let him be happy this birthday. He deserves, at least, that from us.'

Fred frowned, 'won't it be easier this way? With everyone being there, that is?'

'Yeah, that is the logical solution. But you can't blame me for not wanting to wipe that happy look upon his face on his birthday. It's like stabbing a teddy bear.' Fred burst out laughing at Hermione's words. Hermione turned bright pink in the face, 'oh grow up!'

Fred clutched his sides, 'My brother – a teddy bear – Ron – teddy bear – that's hilarious!' Hermione threw him a hard glare but ended up bursting out in fits of laughter too. She fell on top of Fred unable to keep control of her amusement but Fred seemed to have gained control over his. 'So we tell, but not tonight? So the next time mum has us all over?' his voice was still shaky with hilarity.

Hermione couldn't form any words but kissed him instead, her body still trying to give up the fits of laughter. Fred took this is a 'yes' and found his way underneath the shirt she was wearing. 'So what were we doing before that ruddy owl came?' he breathed.

**X -- X**

Fred and Hermione arrived at the Burrow's apparation point, each with a gift in hand.

'No wait…' Hermione suddenly stopped in her tracks.

'What now?' Fred said, running his hand through his fiery red hair.

'We should come in separately. If we come together then it may raise a few eyebrows.'

'Or they can assume that we both came at the same time, coincidently.' Hermione gave him a glare. 'Or one of us can wait five or so minutes whilst the other goes inside,' Fred gave in.

'Make it ten. Just to be on the safe side'

'Fine, ten.'

'Dibs on going in first. I'm freezing,' Hermione said, rubbing her hands up and down her arms for warmth.

'And you think I'm not? Merlin! It's bloody spring and yet it's as cold as it was in the beginning of January!' Fred exclaimed under his breath.

'You're a man, be brave and stay here.'

'You're brave too but now that it's cold, you're not that courageous are you?' Fred teased, rubbing his frozen hands together.

'Look, the longer we stay out her bickering, the longer the last person has to stay outside.'

'Fine, go.' Hermione gave him a grateful peck on his chilled cheek. 'But you owe me big time!' Fred added after Hermione made her way up to the Burrow. She tapped on the door with her frozen fingers, hoping that someone would hear the soft knock and let her in from the cold. She was quite relieved to find herself, a minute later, face to face with Mrs. Weasley who immediately began to bustle her inside.

'Where's Fred?' Mrs. Weasley asked Hermione, poking her head out of the door to take a look around.

'What… what do you mean?' She knew Mrs. Weasley could be scary and just know stuff instantly, but not even she could tell that she and Fred were seeing each other… right?

'His hand on the clock was on travelling before and now its on 'the Burrow'. Did you see him on your way here?'

'Um… no. Perhaps the clock is faulty?' she added after seeing Mrs. Weasley's face falter, but she perked up immediately afterwards that Hermione wasn't even sure that she had saw that emotion.

'Maybe. But I thought I got it fixed. After Fred's hand had been on "mortal peril" for the past five years or so, I figured it was broken. But I guess it's still acting up with him. Oh well… have you eaten recently, Hermione? You're just skin and bones. You're not pushing yourself too hard at that job of yours.'

'I'm fine, Mrs. Weasley. Um… is Harry and Ginny here yet?'

'Oh… yes, they are in the sitting room with Teddy, Bill, Fleur and little Victoire. Ron will be home soon from work, so we won't start dinner till everyone is here, I'm afraid.'

'Oh that's ok,' said Hermione. Hermione walked in to the sitting room finding little Teddy (whose hair was bright sunshine yellow) playing with young Victoire on the floor, Bill and Fleur watching the two contently and Harry constantly poking Ginny, who was laughing at his actions.

'Harry, for Merlin's sake, stop it!' Ginny laughed as she held her protruding belly protectively. 'You're going to have him in frenzy during dinner.'

'Ahh… so the sex hasn't changed since last time?' Hermione said, making her presence known to the two. 'Harry, were you just poking Ginny?'

'I'm positive that it's a boy, and you bloody well know it, 'Mione. And he wasn't _just _poking me,' Ginny gave her a wry smile as Hermione flopped on the couch next to Ginny. 'So where's Fred?' she asked in a low whisper.

'Outside. We didn't want to raise any eyebrows,' Hermione whispered back.

'You left him out _there_?' Ginny nodded in the direction of the window which was showing a wonderful view of the dark and the trees battering against it violently as the wind blew past.

'Rather him than me, Gin.'

'Rather who than you?' came a familiar voice. Ron had obviously come without anyone noticing, anyone but his mother that is. 'Rather _who_ than you?' Ron repeated.

'None of your business,' Ginny snapped. Ron raised an eyebrow at his sister before throwing a disgusted look at Hermione. 'Ron! I saw that! Don't be so rude!' Ginny hissed at him.

Ron ignored her, 'you shouldn't listen to everything she says, Gin. She will lead you to believe the wrong things.' Hermione knew she should have seen that coming, but she chose not to let his words bother her.

'And you will not be able to hold your nephew till you get your attitude fixed, Ronald Weasley.' Ron sneered at her and stormed off in the direction of his eldest brother. 'Git,' Ginny mumbled to Hermione.

'Fred's here, everyone,' Mrs. Weasley called out for everyone to hear. Hermione got up and walked to the front door to tell him to be careful of what they said.

Fred walked in from the bitter cold, his freckles fairly visible on his pale face and he was shivering a bit. Immediately his eyes snapped to Hermione and he gave her a small nod and smile which she returned.

'Fredrick Gideon Weasley! Look at you! You look like you've been standing outside for hours! What have you been doing?' Mrs. Weasley huffed at her son, taking his coat and ushering him to a seat near the fire.

**X -- X**

'Merlin! What a complete utter mess!' Hermione mumbled under her breath. She had made the usual excuse for the bathroom to escape Ron and his mother. The tension had been killing her throughout the whole dinner. Ron kept giving her dirty glares and making fun of her in front of his brothers as if it was what a man would do. But Hermione knew better, and she knew that Fred was trying very hard to resist the urge to punch Ron in the face.

Mrs. Weasley, as nice as she was, kept dropping hints to Hermione that for his birthday, she should get back together with Ron. This, in Hermione's books, didn't make Mrs. Weasley as nice as she's made out to be, but instead, extremely annoying. Hermione was quite thankful that Ginny had heard one of these "subtle" hints and put an end to it by occupying her mother with ideas for the baby. Hermione made a mental note to buy Ginny a very big thank-you gift tomorrow.

In all this, she continued making small eye-contact with Fred. She could see the anger burn in his eyes every time Ron would tease Hermione but she kept giving him looks to tell him that it was OK. She would prefer that Ron wouldn't have a broken nose for his birthday because of him. But in the rare moments that the topic swerved away from her, she could see the wistful look in Fred's eye. He must have felt the longing that she felt – and if it was driving her nuts. She couldn't imagine what it was doing to Fred.

Hermione stared at herself in the bathroom mirror, 'I'm not going to let any of these get to me,' she murmured.

'That's right! You go for it girl!' the mirror yipped back. Hermione threw it a look; she never really liked how the mirrors talked back. And sometimes they can be just plain rude. Hermione walked out of the bathroom, ready to go back to the Weasley family where they will no doubt be watching Ron succeed at something. Just for his birthday at least.

Suddenly a pair of arms snaked their way around her waist and she let out a gasp before being met by a pair of midnight blue eyes. Fred pressed a kiss against her neck, 'Fred… if someone sees us-'

'Merlin, I've missed you,' Fred whispered, capturing her lips with his own.

'Fred,' Hermione warned but continued to kiss him anyways, 'it's been less than three hours.'

'I don't care. I am seriously this close,' he held up his thumb and forefinger a few centimetres apart, 'to apparating you back to your apartment and having my wicked way with you.'

'You know we can't. People will notice,' she muttered back.

'Oh who cares? They'll just be playing Exploding Snap for the rest of the night or watching Ron win yet another game of chess. They won't notice that we've gone'

'Yes they will. Nothing gets past your mother-'

'My mum is too busy with Ginny and Ron to care and isn't what I have in mind a bit more fun than a game of Exploding Snap?' these words caused Hermione to deepen the kiss; his tongue was now gaining access to inside her mouth. He could taste the soufflé that she just ate on her breath, he could feel her longing for him, and he definitely heard the moan that escaped her lips when she pulled back for a moment to breathe. It was getting hot and steamy, his hand lost in the tangles of her hair, hers on the back of his neck, pulling him closer…

'What the bloody hell is going on here!?' came a voice from behind. The two sprang apart to reveal a very angry Ron, watching them.

* * *

**A/N: **_Dun, dun, DUN!_

_OK… another chapter done… enough said.__ Let us never speak of how long it has been since the last chapter. _

_I may be off Ron's birthday by a few days, coz I had to go back and check how long it had been and it's been roughly 3 weeks or so… bit fast, yeah. But it builds drama so that works for me and every other author. But believe me, there is more drama ahead!_

_So yeah… next we get to see Ron's reaction. What do you think will happen? I think that you will review this story because you cannot refuse that button at the bottom of the screen. C'mon – long chapters deserve reviews! And this is the longest chapter yet! _

_Lots of Love,  
Creative Touch _

_xxx_

_**Random **__**NOTE: **__Ok. A friend of mine was listening to _Harry and the Potters_ and i never even knew they existed. I don't hate them… nor do I like them very much. I think their songs are pretty cool coz they make me laugh. Anyways, I also ended up discovering several other bands, like: _Draco and the Malfoys, Ginny and the heartbreakers, Dobby and the house-elves, Remus and the Lupins, The Hungarian Horntails, The Whomping Willows, Roonil Wazlib, Ginny Weasley and the Short skirts, Tom Riddle and friends, Neville and the Longbottoms, The Prefects, Ministry of Magic, Basilisk in your Pasta, The Hufflepunks, The Parselmouths, The Cruciatus Curse, The Sneakoscopes, Hallows and the Horcruxes, The Dementors, We-Who-Must-Not-be-Named, Azkaband, The Hannah Abbots, Rowena's Wrockers, The Golden Snitch, The Moaning Myrtles, The Wands, Gred and Forge, The Marauders, The Giant Squidstravaganza, Aberforth Dumbledore and the Nannies, The Looney Lunas, The Fleur Delacours…

_And I'm like _WTH!?_ I haven't listened to all of them, nor most of them, so I'm not gonna judge but… that's alotta HP based bands, don't ya think? That's completely mad! Please tell me there aren't more because they are starting to freak me out…_

_Does anyone know which band came first? I dunno if I want to know… _


	13. Chapter 13

**Dedication: **_Once again to the wonderful _kayko15_, who I believe had a birthday just yesterday. Sorry it's late but _Happy Birthday_! Ignore the fact that I'm a day late. _

* * *

Last time:

'_What the bloody hell is going on here!?' came a voice from behind. The two sprang apart to reveal a very angry Ron, watching them. _

* * *

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

**Filling in the Gap**

**Chapter 13**

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

'Err… hi Ron,' Fred stuttered as his brother's face turned the brightest shade of red he had ever seen. Ron was fuming at the two who immediately took attention to the fact that the hallway was suddenly rather hot. It took only a second to take place but within the next moment, blood spurted from Fred's nose when Ron's curled fist collided with his face. 'Merlin! What the bloody hell was that for!?' Fred cried as he shoved his hand underneath his nose to stop the flow.

'What the bloody hell do you think it was for!?' Ron roared. 'You've been hooking up with my girlfriend!' he pointed a finger at Fred accusingly.

Hermione felt the right to intervene here, despite the fact that her face was still flushed with embarrassment. She let out a hollow laugh, '_Your _girlfriend? Last time I checked, we had broken up two months ago.'

'So that you can shag my half-brained brother here?'

'I think the only half-brained Weasley I see here, is you. I didn't even know Fred was alive when we broke up!'

'Oh how convenient,' Ron sneered at her.

'She's right, Ron,' Fred said, tilting his head upwards. 'She didn't know'

'Oh shut up!' Ron snapped. 'And what exactly was your excuse? You didn't know she was alive either?'

'Ron you are being ridiculous! What kind of relationship Fred and I have shouldn't be your concern!' Hermione replied.

'It should be my concern when my _ex_-girlfriend,' he emphasized on the "ex", 'is sleeping with my brother for Merlin's knows how long, without telling me. And you expect me to be okay with it?' His breathing was loud and ragged, danger flickering in his eyes.

'Hey! What's with all the yelling?' Charlie asked, coming up the stairs. 'You guys have all been up here for a while now… what's going on?'

'Nothing Charlie,' Fred quickly told his elder brother. He wiped the remaining blood off before saying, 'Fighting over the bathroom, as always.'

Charlie arched an eyebrow at his two younger siblings and Hermione. 'I'm not stupid George--'

'Fred,' Fred corrected.

'Fred…' his brother continued. 'I grew up in this house too. And I know that there is more than one bathroom in this house. And anyone would think so with seven children. So really… what's going on?'

'Him, he's a bloody nuisance,' Ron spoke up, his voice covered in venom.

'What exactly has Fred done now, Ron?' Charlie inquired.

'He's been shagging Hermione, that's what he's done.' Charlie's eyes fell upon the other two in the hallway.

'Is that true?' The two didn't respond but looked away from Ron's accusing eyes. 'Ron,' Charlie turned to his youngest brother, 'Fred is free to date whoever he wants. And you and Hermione are broken up. They aren't doing anything wrong.'

'Sure, take his side,' Ron huffed. 'You've always stood up for others but never for me. You're supposed to be my brother!'

'Fred's my brother too, Ron. Or have you forgotten that he's yours too?'

Ron's knuckles cracked as he clenched them into a fist. 'He's no brother of mine.' Ron turned and fled down the stairs before the others could stop him.

'Ron! RON!' Hermione cried, quickly rushing after him. Fred followed her with Charlie on his heel. Ron stormed off, heading for the front door before Harry grabbed his arm.

'Whoa… slow down. What's going on?' Harry asked his best friend.

'Them!' Ron roared, pointing at Hermione and Fred who were just coming down the stairs. 'They've been hooking up behind my back!'

'What?' Mrs. Weasley questioned as she entered the room to find out what all the commotion was about. 'What did you say Ron?'

'Hermione, Fred,' he hissed through clenched teeth. 'They're a couple now.'

'Oh…' Mrs. Weasley formed a perfect 'o' with her mouth. 'Oh Fred, that's wonderful!' Mrs. Weasley hugged her son. 'You've finally found yourself a girl! And Hermione,' she squeezed Hermione next, 'I just knew that they were going to be apart of the family'. Fred and Hermione were completely dumbfounded; they were not quite expecting that reaction from her.

'Oh so you're engaged now are you?' Ron sneered at the sight. 'Mum, don't you care that she dumped me and now is with Fred?'

'Oh Ron, things weren't working out between the two of you, you know that,' his mother told him. 'And why shouldn't she be with Fred? He's a fine young man, you know'

'Mum! Could you at least be on my side for once? Can anyone ever be on my side?' Ron yelled at the whole room. Even though everyone stayed quiet, Ron could see in their eyes that they didn't have a problem with Fred and Hermione being together. 'That's it! You're all a hopeless bunch!'

'Oh c'mon Ron, don't be a spoilt brat,' Ginny piped in. 'they are free to do whatever they want. And if they want to be together then so be it.'

Ron gaped at his sister for a moment. 'You knew didn't you?' he faced Harry when Ginny couldn't answer. 'You knew too then?' Harry just hung his head in shame. 'Nice to know how these things get around, around here. And some best friend you are,' he pointed a finger at Harry. 'It's obvious whose best friend you really are.'

'Ron,' Harry began. 'You're mum's right, why shouldn't they be together? It's not like they weren't before…' Harry cut off with a slight gasp and punished himself by burying his teeth deep into his tongue. Fred shut his eyes, not wanting to know what kind of danger Harry just put them in.

'What? They've been together before?' Ron asked incredulously. 'When?' he demanded Fred and Hermione.

'Ron I--'

'When?' he repeated.

'A while… just before the war,' Hermione supplied. Ron walked up to Fred and shoved him hard in the chest.

'Why don't you just go back to where the hell you were these past few years? We were just fine without you and then you _had_ to come back,' Ron shouted at Fred. 'All you've done since you've come back is ruin everything!' He turned to Hermione, 'and all you know is how to hurt people beyond imagination. People think you're all good but really… you're a scarlet woman.'

More blood was shed as Fred's fist came into contact with Ron's jaw. 'Don't you dare call Hermione that!' Fred spat in Ron's face. Ron immediately reacted by spitting out a mouthful of blood before punching Fred in the nose again, which Fred felt break. Fred lunged at Ron as both fought in their anger. They didn't realise of their surroundings and bumped into Ginny, who fell over and banged her head on the table and fell unconscious. Harry rushed to Ginny's aid as Bill tried to separate the two. The attempt failed.

It was brother against brother as both were throwing punches and knocking ornaments as they stumbled into them. Both fell to the floor, both trying hard to kill the other in this physical bloodshed. Neither of the two Weasleys noticed how much destruction they were causing, or that they knocked out their pregnant sister. All that mattered to them was to see the other suffer in their power. The situation led to Ron being the dominant one, with his hands around Fred's neck.

Fred couldn't fight back from his brother pinning him down to the ground with his body weight. The hands around his throat were getting tighter, cutting off the air circulation to his lungs. Fred could barely gasp for oxygen as Ron was very much prepared to kill. He could hear his family and Hermione attempting to get Ron off him.

Harry and Charlie managed to pull Ron off him with enormous amount of strength. But Fred couldn't enjoy the moment to be free of Ron's rage for his eyes rolled into the back of his head and the darkness consumed him.

* * *

**A/N: **_Ok… my first original idea went totally out the window with this one._

_I dunno what happened. I had it all planned and all of a sudden this unearthed itself from the words. I knew that some violence was needed, and many of you predicted a fight… but that cliffie didn't register itself until this very moment, writing it. I kept changing it and changing it… and now I think it's just right._

_I didn't intend on this happening in the first place. But now it's happened. And I sorta like this drama. So yeah, sorry…_

_And a major apology goes out to _kayko15_ who I promised to get out on her birthday but I failed because I got side-tracked. Hopefully, this makes it up to you. Hope you had a great day anyways!_

_Anyways, now that this cliffie is done, I better get started on the next instalment. Sorry if this was shorter than many would have hoped. _

_Lots of Love,  
__Creative Touch_


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N:**_How is that for a snappy update? Oh btw, the beginning of the chapter is a recap of the fight but through Hermione's eyes. Just warning ya!_

* * *

Last time:

_Harry and Charlie managed to pull Ron off him with enormous amount of strength. But Fred couldn't enjoy the moment to be free of Ron's rage for his eyes rolled into the back of his head and the darkness consumed him._

* * *

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

**Filling in the Gap**

**Chapter 14**

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

Hermione was frozen to the spot by sheer fear as she watched the two red-headed men roll around on the floor, both attempting to see the other die. She never had seen such rage between two brothers before and she never wanted to see so much violence since the war. She watched both men as they fought for what they believed was right but she couldn't help but glance over at Harry who was trying to awake an unconscious Ginny.

It wasn't until Ron had managed to get Fred underneath him and had begun to choke him that she found herself able to move.

'Stop it, Ron!' she cried but he seemed to be ignoring her. 'I said stop it!' She rushed over and attempted to pull Ron off but failed due to her petite size and lack of strength. She next tried to get his hands off from around Fred's neck. She could hear the others yelling her same words but all she focused on was to get her boyfriend to safety. Tears left her eyes as she watched Fred's face turn purple from a lack of oxygen. 'Ron! Please stop! You're killing him! You're killing him!' She still strived to get Ron's hands off Fred's neck but nothing she did made him budge.

Tears were falling freely as Hermione struggled to rescue her lover. She didn't realize the rest of the Weasley brothers had surrounded the three to try and help in her attempt to remove Ron. She also didn't realize that Harry had left Ginny's side to help, leaving Mrs. Weasley to attend to his pregnant wife. With a strong amount of effort, Harry and Charlie grabbed each one of Ron's arms and managed to release his grip around Fred. Hermione, entirely grateful, fell down to her knees and moved some of his hair out of his eyes in time to watch them roll into the back of his head before closing.

'Fred?' she gasped. 'Fred!' she gave him a little shake. Her head turned towards Ron and said, 'What have you done?' Ron still struggled to fight off Harry and Charlie but both kept a firm grip on him.

'Nothing he didn't deserve,' yanking his arm away from Charlie.

Hermione turned back to her unconscious boyfriend. 'Fred? Can you hear me?'

**X -- X**

Fred was swimming in darkness, unknown of his whereabouts. He could not remember how he got here. He could barely remember his own name. A shining light suddenly appeared out of no where and Fred felt a strong pull towards it. Closer and closer he was getting to the light. He wasn't going to question the light and why it was here but it had some sort of hypnotizing affect on him.

'Fred? Can you hear me?' came a feminine voice somewhere outside of the realm. _Hermione?_ Fred questioned inside his head. Memories flooded back to him as he remembered his whole past, everything. His mind echoed with voices and flashbacks as he remembered his own life. Every second flashed before his eyes, all leading up to the moment where he saw his brother's anger before blacking out completely. _Wait… where am I? _

Fred snapped out of his memories. He was closer to the light than he had ever remembered getting to. _Oh no, the light! Avoid the light! _He remembered knowing what would happen if he got closer to the light. All these saying 'step into the light' became dangerous in his ears. He didn't want to die, not yet anyways. He still had so much to live for, and he was not prepared to die at the mere age of 26.

Fred tried to run away from the light but it seemed to be getting brighter. It was following him. He wasn't ready to die. It was following him, every move he made, the light was still on his tail. The light turned into a dark green and swallowed him whole. Fred expected this to be the end.

But the feeling wasn't quite what he expected. In fact it felt as if he was lying on a hard wooden floor.

'Fred? Are you alright?' Hermione's voice cried out to him. Fred's eyes fluttered open and even though his vision was rather impaired, he was able to recognize Hermione bending over him.

'What happened?' he croaked. Hermione's arms were swift and quickly wrapped themselves around him and tightened.

'Oh thank Merlin, you're alright!' she wept, kissing the top of his head. Fred moved his hand to his face, immediately noticing that his nose was still broken. 'Don't you scare me like that again!'

'You okay, bro?' George's voice came from the other side of him. Fred turned his head and saw his twin looking ghostly pale underneath his freckles. Fred nodded, trying to sit up on his own.

'Oh no, you don't,' Hermione's voice was stern as she pushed him back down. 'Not until you are fully checked over.' She called Mrs. Weasley over to examine him. His mother's reaction was much like Hermione's, full of hugs and kisses. She quickly asked him questions like 'where did it hurt' and if he felt dizzy. He answered to as best as he could feel, allowing his mother to cast healing spells all over him.

'Where's Ron?' Fred asked whilst his mother removed a shiner from his face. He sat up and noticed Hermione's eyes avoid his as she tried to ignore the question.

'Gone,' George answered. 'Got out of Harry's grip, and disapparated. Charlie's gone to search for him. I don't know how he got away: Harry put up quite a fight seeing as what you two did to Ginny.'

'Ginny?' he said bemused. Fred turned his head, quite painfully, over to where Hermione was looking. Ginny was leaning against Harry whilst Fleur got rid of a particular nasty cut on her forehead with her wand. Harry held Ginny close to him, rocking her like a small child and in one hand, which was draped over her shoulder, was a tea towel that probably was filled with ice. Ginny looked quite scared and was constantly rubbing her protruding stomach. 'Dear Merlin… did I seriously do that?'

'You, Ron – one or the other,' George replied, 'or both. She banged her head on the coffee table and fell unconscious. She probably has a concussion.'

'And the baby?' Fred just had to ask.

'Fine,' his mother interjected. 'Well… Ginny doesn't want the healers to come and check it out but she says that the baby is alive and kicking. So that must be a sign that it's alright.'

'I guess…' Fred frowned. 'Why doesn't she want healers? Isn't that for the best?'

'She's your sister Fred,' his mother told him. 'You know how frightened of those healers she is. Now you stay here while I go check on Ginny,' she ordered before walking over to her youngest child. As soon as Mrs. Weasley was out of ear-shot Fred turned to Hermione and George.

'Since when has Gin been afraid of healers?' he questioned the pair.

'Since the war. Nothing good ever came out of those healer's mouths. She thinks it's a curse and all healers will deliver bad news,' Hermione responded, peaking over her shoulder every now and again to check on Ginny.

'What exactly did they say to her?'

'Let's see,' George started, ticking off his fingers. 'Harry should be dead, I would eventually die of shock, that you were dead and that some spells that hit her would mean she could never have children.'

'Bullocks!' Fred exclaimed. 'Can't she very well see that none of those things are true? Harry's alive, you're alive, I'm alive and unless I am seeing things, she is pregnant!'

'I know I know,' George waved him off. 'She's not blind, she can see those things. It's also because when we were at St. Mungo's, she saw Kimberly…'

'Kimberly? As in Kimberly Simmons? Her best friend when she was little?' Fred interrupted.

George nodded and then hung his head. His voice was barely audible, 'Ginny watched her die. I don't know the full details but apparently, the healers did nothing to save her.'

'Ginny's scared that something like that is going to happen to one of us again,' Hermione interjected. 'She's afraid that they aren't going to do anything to save a life. Healers lost quite a reputation since the war. You'd think it would be the other way around but there were more cases where they were careless.' Hermione looked over her shoulder once more, 'I bet she's assuming that if some Healer told her that the baby is fine, she's going to think otherwise. She just doesn't trust them any more.'

'That makes sense… I suppose…'

'You can't change her mind, bro,' George said, reading his mind. 'We've all tried, Harry literally had to stun her every time she had to go and get her monthly check-up. It's been five years, nothing's changed.'

'George,' Hermione said quietly. 'Could I talk to Fred… alone?' George looked slightly taken back but nodded.

'I'll go and see if mum needs anything,' he said getting up from the ground. Once George had left the two, Hermione stayed silent. She rubbed her thumb back and forth over Fred's hand. Now that Fred got the chance, he studied her face. He noticed that her eyes were red and puffy, unshed tears were still clinging to her dark eyelashes. Fred knew how much he must have scared her.

Fred leaned over and placed a kiss on Hermione's tear-stained cheek. 'Sorry,' he mumbled.

'This is exactly why I told you not to break it to him tonight,' Hermione sighed. 'This is precisely how I thought he would take it… well… maybe less violent.' She stared at him hard in the eye, 'And you should learn and control yourself--'

'Control myself?' Fred said incredulously. 'Ron is the one who broke my nose.'

'But you didn't have to lunge at him the way you did. This whole thing could have been avoided if you weren't so--'

'Hermione, he called you a scarlet woman. Do you think I could stand there and let you take that kind of abuse?'

'I'm a big girl, Fred. I can look after myself. And I have been called worst things, believe me,' she said. 'But you need to know that violence isn't always the answer, Fred. Especially when there is your pregnant sister around and innocent children who didn't need to see something like that.' Fred had completely forgotten that Teddy and Victoire were here and were no doubt witnesses to the violent act between him and Ron.

'How are they?' he asked, gesturing to Teddy and Victoire.

'Upset. Confused. Scared. All of the above,' Hermione breathed. 'I have no idea what Bill is telling them. Hopefully they aren't scarred for life.'

'Oh god…' Fred moved his knees closer to his chest and buried his head into them. 'I can't believe what happened.' He wanted to punch something but seeing as Hermione was the only one around, he reframed himself from doing so. 'Ron's right,' he moaned, 'all I've done is made a big mess of things.'

'That's not true and you know it,' Hermione coaxed.

'I knocked out my sister, I nearly killed my future niece or nephew, I have frightened young children, and I have turned my brother against the rest of the family. Where is the good in all that?' he asked.

'You came back, you made your mother the happiest she's been in years, you restored joy within your family--'

'Except Ron,' he pointed out.

'Except Ron,' Hermione agreed. 'One out of eight, ain't bad.'

'Eight?' he blinked in confusion.

'Oh and I don't count?' she fake pouted.

'Of course you count,' he smiled. Fred leaned in and kissed Hermione gently on the lips. 'I'm sorry if I ever make you think otherwise. And I'm sorry about what happened tonight.'

'I don't think it's just me you should be apologizing to,' she jerked her head in the direction of Ginny and Harry. Fred sighed as he let Hermione help him up from his sitting position. Fred was quite hesitant about what to say, and if Ginny would be as forgiving as Hermione. Whatever would happen, Hermione didn't seem to care, for she literally pushed him right in front of him.

'Err… hi Gin,' Fred smiled nervously. Ginny and Harry looked up but were not pleased at all with his introduction to his presence. 'Um… I'm sorry about the way I acted and I hope I didn't do… much damage.'

'You could have done some serious damage if you weren't so hasty,' Harry snapped at him.

'Harry…' Ginny scolded.

'Gin, he could have seriously hurt you or the baby--'

'Harry, could you give us a minute alone?' Ginny interrupted. Fred and Harry looked at her incredulously as if she had grown a third head. 'Please? Just for five minutes?' she begged her husband. Harry obviously didn't like the thought of letting her be alone with Fred but obediently obliged. Getting up from the floor, he helped Ginny up before leaving the room with Hermione at his heels.

'Ginny… I really am so--'

'I know you are Fred,' she cut him off. 'And it isn't just you're fault. Ron is responsible too. But you ever do anything like that again, or put this child or any other at risk,' she sub-consciously placed a hand over her stomach. 'Then you will have to deal with Harry and my bat-bogey-hex.'

'That I definitely don't want,' Fred smirked. 'Come here,' he let his arms open allowing Ginny entrance to. Ginny walked over and sunk her head deep into his chest like she did when she was a little girl. 'How you feeling Gin-bug?' he asked, using her old nickname for her.

He felt Ginny smile, 'you haven't me called me that in years.'

'I haven't been here in years.'

'I know and I don't want you to go again. Please tell me that this is the last time I will see you like that, I can't bear to see you like that again. Twice is enough.'

'I can't promise I'll try, but I'll try to try, okay?'

'Okay,' she murmured before sighing into his torso.

He hadn't held his sister like this since before she started Hogwarts. She claimed to have outgrown his brotherly hugs but Fred knew that she just was too embarrassed to admit that she still was a girl who needed her brothers. No matter the fact that she was married and was expecting a child, she would always be Ginny, his baby sister. And right now, that's what she felt like, a small child that needed protection from the world.

Ginny tensed up in his arms, which Fred immediately noticed. 'Gin?' Fred asked putting his hands on either side of Ginny's arms. Ginny paled and grimaced as if a savage pain was going through her. Ginny doubled over, clutching the side of her swelling bump. 'Ginny?' Fred asked more urgently.

Ginny looked up to him but no sound escaped her lips except for a very small wince. Fear was showing in her eyes, and that meant something. Something was wrong. Very wrong. 'Can we get some help in here!?' Fred called out as his sister scrunched up her eyes and took whatever pain she had to endure.

'It's going to be alright Gin. It's going to be alright,' he whispered in her ear, not knowing if he meant it.

* * *

**A/N:****O.o**

_Oh my! I didn't quite expect so many people to panic about Fred – and even more importantly, Ginny. Nobody died__ this chapter! Well except for that Kimberly character I created… but I would never do that to the Weasley siblings! Though I think Ron could be an exception… lol. _

_Ginny wasn't going to die__ from banging her head on a table! I'm sorry if I made anyone think otherwise. And Fred cannot die – he is invincible. Nah, just kidding. But the whole idea of this story was that I would bring Fred back to life – and I am not as unkind as to give Hermione back Fred after 5 years, just to take him away again in less than 1 month. I am not that cruel!!_

_Ok… as for this chapter. What did you think? Like it? Hate it? Absolutely so in love with it, that you want to marry it?? Lol._

_With the whole Ginny's fear of healers – I seriously have no idea where that came from. It just happened… um… perhaps it was just an excuse so I didn't have to send her to St. Mungo's __straight away or something. I don't know!! I also don't know what's happening. I had everything planned out just 4 weeks ago and now… I don't know what happened. I think I'm making this up as I go… but I seriously will use my ideas somewhere along the track. I just suppose that this is going to be longer than I had expected. Is that good?_

_Thanks to everyone who reviewed. They were all wonderful, even though they were all "Die, Ron, die!!" __But I would like more this time round, I saved your characters did I not? And did I not supply you with a nice long chapter?? Do I not deserve reviews?_

_I don't know when I next plan to update _but_ my birthday is on the 25__th__. Perhaps I can get one out on that day. No promises guaranteed. _

_Lots of Love forever__,  
Creative Touch _

_P.S. Happy Easter all! _:D


	15. Chapter 15

**Dedication: **_To _Lexaay_, who almost screamed when I told him how much longer he had to wait, because he couldn't bare the thought of waiting yet another day for this instalment. And virtually whipped me to get this out. _

Last time:

_Ginny looked up to him but no sound escaped her lips except for a very small wince. Fear was showing in her eyes, and that meant something. Something was wrong. Very wrong. 'Can we get some help in here!?' Fred called out as his sister scrunched up her eyes and took whatever pain she had to endure. _

'_It's going to be alright Gin. It's going to be alright,' he whispered in her ear, not knowing if he meant it. _

* * *

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

**Filling in the Gap**

**Chapter 15**

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

Fred paced up and down the corridor outside Ginny's room in St. Mungo's. It wasn't' even his child in danger yet he was acting like he was going to be a father within a matter of minutes. But it was his sister and his future niece or nephew in there and Fred couldn't help but feel partially responsible for why they were in there.

'Fred, love, sit for a while,' Hermione said for the tenth time. Fred continued pacing up and down, ignoring the comment that his girlfriend had suggested. 'Fred?'

'What?' Fred asked, his head shooting up.

A wry smile played on Hermione's lips, 'you're putting a whole in the floor, pacing like that.'

The corners of Fred's mouth descended, 'not funny. How could you joke at a time like this?'

'How could _you _not?' she asked.

'Because it's _my_ fault that she's in there, 'Mione. If anything happens…' Fred curled his hand into a fist. 'I'll never forgive myself if they're in any danger.'

'You don't know that they are in any danger,' Hermione supplied.

'We've been waiting for two hours, Hermione,' Fred interjected. 'The healers are telling us nothing and…'

'They're not telling us anything because they don't want to scare us--'

'More like they don't want us to get our hopes up,' Fred snapped.

'You don't know that,' she repeated.

'How many months does she have to go by the way?' Fred asked, ignoring her last statement. He just realised he didn't know how many months along Ginny was.

'Two months' Hermione answered promptly as if she were reading a text book, 'She's due late April, early May… so she's about 7 months.'

'Oh Merlin,' Fred exhaled, 'I put my sister in premature labour.'

'Don't go blaming yourself, Forge,' George said. 'It's Ron's fault too.'

'No this is my entire fault,' he insisted. '_I _was with Ginny when this happened, _I _threw that first punch at Ron that started the fight, _I _am the one who couldn't resist and kissed Hermione and let Ron find us. No… this is my fault.'

No one spoke as Fred broke down. He slid into a crumpled figure on the cold floor. He could never forgive himself if anything had happened to Ginny or the baby, and he would always live with the guilt if anything did. Fred began seeing visions of Harry shunning him everywhere, blaming him for the outcome; his own mother disowning him for ruining her only daughter; Ron sneering at his face, rubbing the guilt in his face; his whole family shutting him out and Hermione breaking up with him over this…

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't realise a slim arm wrap around his shoulders. Hermione was quick to her feet and had rushed over to her lover. Putting her arm around his shoulders, she was able to give him some form of comfort in his state. She kissed his temple and whispered for him to get him.

Fred stayed glued to his spot.

'C'mon Fred,' Hermione said in soft voice, 'let's go and get something to calm down the nerves.' Hermione enclosed her small hand around his and amazingly enough, was able to get him standing on his feet. Hermione led him around the corner into the next corridor, just outside the lifts. It was then when she jumped up and brought him into a tight hug.

Fred was dumbfounded by her actions. 'Promise me something,' she mumbled.

'What?' he asked, wiping way the tears that had escaped.

'Promise me,' Hermione said, 'that whatever happens, you will be there for Ginny.' Fred opened his mouth to counter but was cut short, 'you will be brave for her. You will scare her if you show her you are scared. She will need her brothers now more than ever.'

'I can't promise that.' Hermione let go of him.

'Why not?' she demanded.

'Because she is going to blame me,' he stated simply. 'They all will. You too'

'Oh Fred,' Hermione breathed before pulling him down by his shirt and letting their lips touch. Hermione pulled back for a moment, 'I will never blame you for this. It's not your fault.' Fred was about to retort but was silenced when his lips met Hermione's again.

They stayed that way for what felt like an eternity to Fred, before a loud _popping _sound echoed throughout the corridor and sent him back to reality. Hermione and Fred broke apart and hurried back to see that Charlie had appeared with Ron struggling in his grip.

'Bloody hell, Charlie' Ron groaned. 'Do you really have to be that tight?'

'It's for your own good,' Charlie stated. He turned to the others in the corridor who were looking rather surprised that he was here. 'I got the Patronus from Bill. What's happening? What's going on? Is she alright?' he quickly asked, tightening his grip around Ron's arm again, making the youngest Weasley male yelp in pain.

'They aren't saying anything,' Bill commented.

'Eet 'as been un 'our since zey 'ave said anythin',' Fleur added. 'Gin-nee eez 'aving… uh… 'ow vous say… uh…contractions.'

'But she's early,' Charlie yelped.

'We know,' George interjected. 'The healers are trying to slow them down and stop them before she goes into full labour.'

'And the baby will be alright? Even if it's premature?' Charlie questioned. Eyes darted around the room, avoiding Fred and Charlie.

'What?' Fred asked. 'What do you guys know?'

'If she does go into full labour…'

'They're giving the baby a ten percent chance of living,' Percy piped in.

'Ten percent?' Fred asked incredulously. 'Bloody hell,' he hissed, taking his anger out on the wall next to him. The hollow sound of Fred's punch colliding with the wall echoed in the silence that was left in the wake of his words.

'You should be upset,' a voice told him. All eyes fell upon Ron who was no longer struggling with Charlie but looking coldly at Fred. 'You put in her in here, you know'

'It wasn't just his fault, Ron,' George intervened, getting out of his seat and defending his other half. 'Harry and Gin have every right to blame this on you too.'

'If he didn't punch me first, this wouldn't have happened!' Ron countered.

'If you didn't call Hermione a scarlet woman, I wouldn't have punched you!' Fred shot back.

'If you guys weren't together, I wouldn't have said it!'

'Oh so are you saying that because Hermione and I are together, Ginny is in hospital?'

'That's exactly what I'm saying!'

'That doesn't make any sense!'

'If you weren't together before and if you weren't together now, the fight wouldn't have happened, would it!?'

'You would do something to screw things up anyways--'

'Oh for heaven's sake!' Silence filled the corridor again as eyes widen at the new voice. Mrs. Weasley had gotten up as well and was giving her boys the Weasley death stare. '_Your _sister is in there,' she pointed at the door, 'she needs our support and no doubt she can hear that bickering. Either sort out your problems now or both of you leave. Ginny doesn't need any of this right now.' At the end of her little warning, her chest was heaving as she took enormous amounts of deep breaths.

'You're right mum,' Ron spoke gently. He turned to Fred, 'look mate, I'm sorry for the way I acted. I just was… shocked and… overreacted a bit.' He stuck out his hand for Fred to shake but Fred had picked up on something. This happened to be the thing that Ron had intended on him to find.

Fred had recognised the tone in his voice. It had been one that he himself had used countless amounts of times in front of his mother. It was a tone of _acting_.

This was tone that he was too familiar with. All the Weasley siblings knew this tone like the back of their hands. They used it constantly in the Burrow, especially when there was a small feud between two or more members of the family, and they tried to act like everything was alright for the mental and emotional sake of their mother. Seven kids squabbling with each other at the same time could do your head in.

Ron's eyes were empty and cold as he stared at Fred, trying to get him to play along. No, he wasn't even trying; he was commanding that Fred would play along. Fred took a quick glimpse of his mother for a small second, just to see her look await hopefully for his response.

'No hard feelings, Ron,' Fred replied, using the same tone as Ron, shaking Ron's hand before quickly withdrawing his hand. 'I'm to blame too. We're sorry that we didn't tell you and that you had to find out like that.' Ron nodded in response to this.

Mrs. Weasley cried out, 'Oh my boys' before running up to the both of them and pulling them both into bone-crushing hugs.

As if on cue, the door opened and Harry stepped out, a look of relief on his face.

'They were able to stop the contractions for now,' he sighed. 'Apparently something to do with shock and fear set them off. But she does need to be off her feet for a while otherwise next time we might not be so lucky.' He addressed this to Mrs. Weasley who immediately got up from her seat in the corridor and sent herself flying into the room. Harry turned to Fred and Ron, 'we heard you two,' he stated simply. 'Please tell me this is all over.'

'Sure,' Ron smirked. 'It's over.' His tone was exaggerating but Harry didn't seem to pick this up. Fred looked over to his older brothers who knew exactly that the whole thing was an act that was put on for their mother. Fred would bet a hundred galleons that Ginny too was in on their secret that the fight was far from over. It was a shame that neither Harry nor Hermione, knew about the Weasley sibling acting tone.

Healers were now retreating from Ginny's room, much to Ginny's pleasure Fred thought. They were only allowing two people to stay the night with Ginny, and no doubt that those two would be her husband and mother. The famous large family began to go their separate ways for the night, heading home to get some needed sleep after the eventful night that had occurred.

Hermione lingered around Fred, letting Fred know that she wanted him to come back to her place for the night… possibly to talk. Ron was not stupid and picked up on this.

Marching up to his brother, he made it clear what his mission was. 'This isn't over,' Ron hissed as he stalked off down the corridor. And Fred couldn't help but feel downhearted by his brother's words as he entwined his fingers with Hermione's, who, no doubt, had also heard those last few words.

* * *

**A/N: **_FINALLY! I have done it… I changed it and change it and I hate changing my original plan!! I was going to make this a Ron forgives Hermione and Fred but as you have just read, clearly I did not like that. I doubted that Ron would be like that with his hot temper and all. _

_Actually… rereading this, I'm not even sure that I like this one!! Oh god, the problems of a tenth-grade writer. _

_So yeah, it__ was my birthday on the 25__th__ of March. That's right, exactly a week before Fred's is mine. Nifty, eh? So I'm another year older and a little bit wiser… and it was an ordinary birthday where I got presents and love for still existing for another year (seriously that is what you're birthday is!!). But yes, I missed my deadline coz I was writing another chapter for _Time Weave_. But no harm done, right?_

_But even though it was my birthday and I had work and homework…__I wrote a chapter, and I would like a review for it. And maybe a couple more reviews as a really belated birthday gift. Or both. I'm not that fussed. _

_Update will be… whenever. Sooner rather than later I think. _

_Sorry that it took me a while. I was kind of going through a crisis. __Quite if few of them actually. But sorry, I'll try not to do that again. Can't make any promises though. _

_Lots of Love__,  
Creative Touch _

_x__xx_

* * *


	16. Chapter 16

**Dedication: **_To return the favour, this goes (once again) to _kayko15_ and her story _The Weasley Twins: The Lost Pages. _It's absolutely gripping!!_

**A/N: **Oh dearie me, it is May 2nd. RIP Fred… and Tonks, and Remus, and Colin… and all the others. 10 years… Bloody hell.

* * *

Last time:

_Marching up to his brother, he made it clear what his mission was. 'This isn't over,' Ron hissed as he stalked off down the corridor. And Fred couldn't help but feel downhearted by his brother's words as he entwined his fingers with Hermione's, who, no doubt, had also heard those last few words. _

* * *

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

**Filling in the Gap**

**Chapter 16**

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

'No!'

'Yes!'

'No way!'

'Yes way!'

'I don't believe you'

'I swear to Merlin,' Fred raised his right hand and put his left over his heart, 'that's exactly what happened.'

'I refuse to believe that Ron tried to get back at us by flirting with Angelina!' Hermione breathed, her cheeks hurt from smiling and laughing too much.

'He so did,' Fred smiled. 'Angelina looked like she wanted to hit him over the head with a beater's bat.' Hermione fell back onto the picnic rug, unable to keep control of her laughter. Fred grinned thinking how nice her laugh sounded, and he mentally added it to a list of "The Wonderful Things about Hermione Granger". Another thing he added was this wonderful idea of hers for his birthday.

Yes, it was April 1st, also known as April fool's Day. It was his first birthday with Hermione in a long time… probably since just before the battle. And, if Fred recalled correctly, his last birthday with her would probably have caused the pregnancy Hermione would have aborted just a month or so afterwards. There was no denying that upon hearing the news of her previous pregnancy that he couldn't help but wonder what life would have been like if they did have a child. Would they have spent the day watching a child with fiery red curls play on the play equipment instead of playing harmless innocent pranks on young muggle children?

Hermione had scolded the first prank he pulled on a little girl, making a flower she had picked for her mother open and close repeatedly, which probably scared her. But let it pass seeing as it was April fool's Day and his birthday. In fact, she had even joined in on a prank or two, impressing him when she made a batch of cupcakes hard as rocks just before some children bit into them.

'What are you smirking at, Mr. Weasley?' Hermione asked playfully at Fred's off stare.

'You,' he admitted truthfully. 'And how wonderful you look in the moonlight' he kissed her gently on the lips.

'Happy Birthday' she mumbled against his lips.

'Best birthday ever.' And Fred was true to his word there. He had everything he had wished for in the past six years right there in that very moment:

Hermione.

Year after year he had wanted this so much, to hold her within his arms, to let his fingers run through her chestnut brown curls, to kiss her so much that a moan would escape the cave of her mouth. No word in the entire universe could express how much bliss Fred felt with Hermione.

He felt the way most people felt when they described love. Dazed, giddy, loss of speech and concentration… hell, his hands were still sweaty even holding her hand this many times. Now that Fred thought about it, his hands weren't the only thing moist whilst he kissed his girlfriend.

His eyes snapped open as he felt something wet run down his neck. Grey clouds had rolled in, covering up the night sky that they were looking at for the past few hours. The clouds began squeezing every drop of water over them, soaking them in the drizzle. Fred could feel parts of his hair get matted down as the droplets came into contact with it.

Hermione squealed, throwing her hands above her head. 'Let's get out of here!'

Fred looked up at the grey clouds, the rain cascading down his face. He loved the feel of rain. 'Why? It's just rain'

'We'll catch our deaths out here,' Hermione huffed. 'C'mon, let's just go' She grabbed Fred's arm and tried to pull him up but he continued to sit on the soaking picnic blanket, letting the flow of water wash all over him. But then, a clack of thunder made Fred jump in surprise. Rain was something he loved; thunder, on the other hand, wasn't his most desired thing in the world.

The rain was now pouring down hard as Fred and Hermione rescued their belongings and ran for Hermione's apartment. They had just barely made it into the building when small bits of hail were starting to come down. Both were panting slightly from the long and sudden run from the park as they leaned against the walls, trying to get their breaths back.

Fred noticed that Hermione's normally bushy hair was plastered to her face and her clothes were soaked, sticking to her body, showing the figure she so often tried to hide. Fred grinned at the very thought of this and Hermione noticed this little smirk of his,

'What?' she asked 'Why are you looking at me like that?'

Fred gave her a wicked smile, 'what do you say if we decided to get out of these wet clothes?' He leaned in closer, running a hand through his red hair, making it stick up in odd angles like Harry's. Hermione giggled as he pressed his lips gently against hers as he grabbed her hand and began to lead her to her apartment.

'Fred,' Hermione said once reaching her door, 'I have to get the key' Fred's hands were all over her still as she struggled to search her pockets for her key. Hermione found her key in her purse and struggled to put it in the slot as Fred tried to distract her. With a click of the lock, Fred pushed the door open in a hurry for Hermione that they both fell down in a heap in the doorway. 'Fred... we are not doing it in the doorway.'

'Why not?' Fred fake pouted.

'Because people can see… now get off!'

'Perhaps some wine is needed?' Fred suggested whilst wiggling his eyebrows.

Hermione let out a laugh, 'If you say so. It's your birthday.' Fred scrambled off Hermione, helping her up along the way. 'Take your coat off, I'll be back in a minute.' Fred quickly discarded his coat and threw it on the couch; he next pulled out his wand and performed a quick drying spell on him and his jacket.

Then something red caught his eye. It was then gone. And back again. It was flashing. Fred followed the light curiously and came across something that sent memories flooding back to him.

'Hey, what's this thing?' Fred called out, pointing to a little box that had a small flashing red light on it. He had recognized it as one of his father's earliest project that he brought to the Burrow from work. Yet, even though it was in his house for four months, he never did find out what it was or what it did. 'Any particular reason why it's flashing?'

'Huh?' Hermione turned her head to see what Fred was going on about. 'Oh… that's my answering machine.'

_A muggle product, _Fred thought,_ right in one_. 'So… it gives you… answers?' Fred questioned, amazed that muggles could come up with something that wonderful.

Hermione let out a laugh, 'no. People call me and if I'm not home then they can leave a message for me and it records the message.'

'Oh' replied Fred, a frown starting to form upon his brow. 'They call you… on the felly-tone--'

'Telephone,' Hermione corrected. 'And record a message.'

'Why would you need one? Owls are more efficient.'

'I never thought so. Plus, its only there for emergencies. Though, no one ever calls me…' she stopped. 'Did you say that it was flashing?'

'Yeah, that little red light. Do you have a message?' Fred inquired.

'Probably.' She came over to play whatever messages were left for her. She immediately noticed the red flashing number 5 on the screen. 'That's odd… five messages?' she mumbled to herself.

'Five?'

'Yeah. See that number? That's to tell me how many messages have been left. But… no one ever calls me except my parents. Who would call me and leave me five messages?' Fred just shrugged in response as Hermione pressed the 'play' button.

An unknown woman's voice echoed throughout the room.

"You have 5 new messages. Received April 1st at 7:12pm…"

"_Hermione, its Harry…" _His voice was shaky and nervous. _"Look, Ginny's water's broke and now she's gone into labour. She's asking for you, 'Mione and I sent an owl but I don't know what would be faster so…" _Ginny's cries came blasting out of the speaker and Harry's words were drowned out. _"Uh… yeah… hurry… please." _

Hermione pressed the next button quickly. She knew her friend needed her, but she couldn't leave unheard messages on her answering machine. She was Hermione Granger after all.

"Received April 1st at 8:04pm…"

Harry's voice came onto the speaker once again... _"Hermione! Where are you? Come to St. Mungo's as soon as you get this…"_

Hermione pressed 'next' again.

"Received April 1st at 9:53pm…"

"_Where are you?? Come down to St. Mungo's fast..."_

Fred cringed at the sounds of his sister's screams for both Harry and Hermione. He did hear the faint dulcet tones of his mother trying to soothe Ginny – but fat chance of that happening. A _tapping _sound came from the window. Hermione was too busy listening to the messages to notice that an owl was awaiting her outside.

"_C'mon Hermione… Ginny really needs you now…"_

Fred opened the window and expected this to be the owl Harry had sent earlier. 'Hermione's right. You things are not at all efficient,' he sighed angrily at the bird. He unrolled the parchment that the bird had given him, along with a few bite marks from his remark. Indeed, the message was from Harry and written in rushed writing was the same message he had heard earlier that night: "Ginny is in labour. Room 316"

Hermione still ignored the fact that a bird was ever there. "Received April 1st at 10:36pm…"

"_Oh for Merlin's sake, Hermione! Where the bloody hell are you!? Get down here as fast as you can!"_

By the end message, Harry was practically yelling over Ginny, both were sounding desperate. Hermione pressed 'delete all messages' and grabbed both hers and Fred's coats from over the couch.

'C'mon, you are about to become an uncle…' she smiled, throwing his coat at him.

'I guess so…'

* * *

**A/N: **_Birthdays, birthdays and… wait I know this one… oh yeah, more birthdays._

_W__ith all this talk of birthdays going around, I just couldn't resist having yet even more birthdays. So we have had Ron's birthday, a special birthday special for _kayko15_, my birthday, Fred + George's birthday and by the looks of things... Ginny's unborn baby's birthday. Oh don't you just love the birthdays??_

_So if anyone out there has a birthday today or recently, _Happy Birthday! _Spread the birthday love people!!_

_Oh and I'm SO SORRY! I tried to get this out before I left on my weekend trip to Adelaide but alas, I didn't. And now I have to go back to school and I have to do some studying for my half-yearly exams which are in 3 weeks…_

_So basically, I hope to get another chapter out before my exams and then who knows? Wish me luck, my faithful readers!! Review please, perhaps I will ignore my studies and write instead. __Anonymous reviews are now available to you all. _

_Lots of Love,_

_Creative Touch _

_P.S. I was never much of a prankster so I couldn't think of good pranks for them to play on muggle children – which is cruel, I know, but they were having harmless fun. And second, dawning upon realisation last chapter, I just want Ginny to give birth already. So voila! _


	17. Chapter 17

Last time:

"_C'mon__, you are about to become an uncle…" she smiled, throwing his coat at him. _

"_I guess so…" _

* * *

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

**Filling in the Gap**

**Chapter 17**

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

Reaching the room, both Hermione and Fred were amazed to see the turn out for the baby's birth. But then again, this _was _Ginny. The elder Weasley men were trying to keep themselves occupied by making a symphony of tapping feet and quiet hums, or in George's case, making Katie giggle as he whispered words into her ear. It didn't escape his notice that Ron was not present for this momentous occasion. Harry, on the other hand was pacing nervously up and down the corridor and with his head down, that he did not acknowledge the pair until Hermione called his name.

"Hermione! Finally!" he exclaimed, causing the orchestra of Weasleys to jump, before rushing up to her.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked curiously, "I thought you would be with Ginny."

"She threw me out," Harry clarified. "She said I wouldn't be allowed back in until you had showed up."

"Can we see her?" Fred piped in

"Yeah, of course," Harry said somewhere caught between relief and nerves. "Oh wait…" he stuck out his arm to stop the both of them from taking another step. Harry was looking at his dented watch and seemed to be mumbling something under his breath. "Four… three… two…"

As if on cue, the door of Ginny's room opened and a frightened looking Healer was retreating. Ginny's thunderous voice screamed after him, "COME BACK WITH A POTION OR DON"T COME BACK AT ALL!" The healer used his clipboard as a cover as ice chips were being thrown at him through the door, no doubt by Ginny.

Hermione and Fred's jaws dropped, but Harry was, Hermione noted, surprising calm about it. "Happens every few contractions," Harry explained to the shocked couple. "They're running out of healers to look after her."

"How… comforting," Fred said meekly.

"C'mon, she's been waiting for a while," Harry said, grabbing Hermione's arm and hauling her in, Fred following behind. Hermione's eyes found Ginny sitting up in the hospital bed, crying out in pain as she clutched her abdomen. Mrs. Weasley was by her side, rubbing her back and telling her to breathe through the contraction.

"Tell me this is Fred or George's sick idea of a joke!" Ginny cried. "Tell me this isn't happening!" For a brief moment, Fred had forgotten that today was his birthday and by extension, April Fools Day. Well… at least it is for the half an hour or so.

"Hey Gin," Hermione spoke cautiously, announcing her presence to her. "How are you feeling?"

Ginny looked up at the new arrival through the many strands of hair that had fallen in her face, "Hermione! You're here!"

Hermione gave her a small smile, "Yeah, sorry about that: I didn't get the message for a while."

"Well here's some word of advice: Don't ever get pregnant!"

"Ginerva!" Mrs. Weasley scolded.

"Fine," Ginny grunted. "If you ever do, make sure you have every potion and spell or don't do a natural birth." Ginny gave a loud moan as another contraction took over, "Where the bloody hell is that healer with my potion!?"

"Ginny," Harry attempted to soothe, "you can't have the potion. You're too far dilated."

"Don't tell me what I can't have, Harry Potter! I want the bloody potion!"

Harry opened is mouth to explain again, but the look that Hermione gave him made him close it again.

Ginny hissed in pain, "couldn't this baby wait another month like it was suppose to!?"

"Those contractions are coming in really fast, aren't they?" Fred muttered to Hermione, who just nodded in response. Fred couldn't understand how any woman would want to put themselves through that much pain. Ginny was one of the toughest girls he knew, and she was powerless and desperate to these contractions. If she couldn't handle them then who could?

He knew his mother must have if she gave birth seven times. Maybe he underestimated how strong his mother was, despite her well-known sweetness. But even now with Ginny crying out in pain, he felt somehow weird. He couldn't explain it but he felt a pang of jealousy towards Harry as he tried to soothe Ginny through the contraction and rubbing her back.

Beads of sweat mingled with tears of ache before Ginny was able to gasp, "Something's happening." She moved so that she was sitting more up straight. "I… I think this is it…"

"Should I get a healer or something?" Fred asked nervously, panic embedded in his voice. Her words had brought him back to the reality of things. Ignore the pain – a baby was on its way now! Fred barely gave her time to answer before making it to the door but a harsh scream stopped him.

"Don't you dare, Fred Weasley!" Ginny cried after him. Fred turned back to see his only sister gripping the bed sheets with such force that her knuckles had gone a pale white. Ginny's head whipped back to Hermione, her breathing ragged. "Hermione, I want you to deliver this baby."

"W-w-what? M-me?" Hermione stuttered

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Ginny," Mrs. Weasley told her daughter. "No offence Hermione dear."

"None taken," she replied, hoping Mrs. Weasley would be able to convince her daughter that this really was a bad idea. She had read books before but that didn't mean she knew how to deliver babies!

"I am _not _letting those bloody healers anywhere near my baby. Oh I am going to kill you Harry Potter for taking me here!" Ginny screeched as, obviously, another contraction took over. Once the pain subsided Ginny began to plead as much as she could before the next one hit, "Please Hermione. I wouldn't trust anyone else to do this."

"I'm not a midwife!" Hermione threw her hands up in defence. "I-I don't know what to do"

"Please Hermione. I need you to do this"

Hermione shook her head, "Ginny, I wouldn't know what to do. Let someone else do it--" An ice chip was hurled at Hermione's head.

"Get it through your head" Ginny said in a dangerous growl, "I don't _want _someone else to do this. I wouldn't ask someone else to do this." Another ice-chip was thrown. "So do it or I will bat-bogey you into the next centaury."

This didn't scare Hermione one bit, but she did manage to squeak out, for no reason that she could recall on, an "okay".

The next few moments were all based on general knowledge. Being the brightest witch of her age didn't necessarily mean that she knew what she was doing all the time. Never having to do this before (and hopefully never again!) meant that everything she had to do was all just common sense.

She took her time getting things ready, but this did not please Ginny one bit. "For Merlin's sake, Hermione! This child is not waiting!" Even though the child wasn't even born yet, it had already inherited one of Ginny's most undesirable qualities: her temper.

"Alright" she squeaked, not letting her best friends know that she was stalling the delivery as long as humanly possible. Hermione nestled herself at the foot of the bed and did the bold move of checking the process of the labour. "Oh… well… I can definitely see why you think it's time, Gin," Hermione winced at the sight. The head was already making its descent down and there was nothing left for her to do but to instruct Ginny to push. And that's exactly what she did.

Fred did not dare venture anywhere near his sister during this time. What on earth was he doing here? He didn't belong here. "This cannot be happening" he moaned into his hands.

"Just shut up Fred! Just shut the bloody hell up!" Ginny screeched at her older brother. Fred's head shot up, blinking in surprise that his sister was able to hear him.

"Fred, you're not helping!" Hermione snapped at her boyfriend.

Ginny looked like she wanted to punch Fred for being so childish. "If you want to do something productive: keep those healers out!" she grunted the first things that came to mind. Fred had to take his sister's words and turned his back to the commotion that was occurring in the room. He kept his eyes at the door at all times, and attempted to block out any sounds that would remind him where he was and what was happening.

After much pushing and threats of killing Harry, Hermione soon found herself holding a new baby. "It's a boy," she smiled; amazed that she was able to complete such a task of delivering her best friends baby. She cut the umbilical cord with her wand and wrapped the little infant in a blanket that Mrs. Weasley conjured out of thin air. The child had a mighty pair of lungs as he opened his mouth and let out a loud cry.

Ginny held out her arms, "Give him here." Hermione obliged, putting the screaming dark-haired infant into his awaiting mother's arms. Ginny's eyes started to spill of happy tears as she rocked her son gently in her arms. Harry sat on the bed, his eyes full of mirth whilst stroking his son's cheek with his finger.

"Picked out a name?" Fred questioned the pair, turning around at sound.

"James," Ginny said proudly. "James Arthur Potter (**A/N: **_I'm cliché alright!!_)"

Harry kissed Ginny's temple as the both stared at what they had created. Hermione felt like she was intruding a bit on the family moment. She wasn't a parent or brother of anyone in the room, so why was she here exactly?

"We want you two to be godparents," Ginny all of a sudden said.

Fred looked at his sister incredulously, "what?"

Ginny's shoulders shook from a suppressed laugh, "Godparents: You and Hermione. No one is better suited, right Harry?" she asked her husband. Harry merely nodded, his eyes never leaving the baby in Ginny's arms.

Fred looked at towards Hermione, who was probably about to cry. "Of course we would love to!" she pretty much cried out, swooping down to hug the new parents. Fred just shrugged his shoulders in reply to what she said. He walked over and pretty much had to pull away Hermione so he could get in a hug.

"We should go. You should all get some sleep. It's been a long day," Fred said, hugging his sister. Ginny nodded her response before stifling a yawn.

Harry looked down at his son contently, "Tell the others. And have fun with the rest of your birthday Fred." He paused and looked up at the clock, "well… what _was _your birthday." Sure enough, time had blown past in the room and the clock now read 12:23am.

"Oh right," Ginny's head shot up, just remembering the date, "Happy Birthday Fred."

"Thanks Gin-bug." The pair nodded their goodnights and began to file out of the room.

"Oh and Hermione?" Ginny's voice said.

Hermione's head popped back in, "yeah?"

Ginny just smirked and with a mischievous grin on her face said, "You can leave the 10 sickles on the table."

**X -- X**

Once back at Hermione's apartment, Hermione collapsed onto her bed and began rubbing her eyes. "That was definitely something you don't do everyday." Fred didn't answer her. His mind was elsewhere.

He kept thinking back to Ginny holding his nephew, the joy in her face, the bliss in her eyes… and Harry, with that glimmer in his emerald orbs and the lop-sided grin of his…

And Fred couldn't help but wonder if he ever got the chance, would he look the same when he held his child? Not that he had one or anything, but he had lost two. One fake, one real. And he still often wondered what it would be like if there was a baby, with either his ex-wife or Hermione. Life would definitely be interesting, that was for sure.

He finally understood why he had that rush of jealousy with Harry earlier. Because _he _never had a chance to do what Harry was doing. He never got a chance to see his child be born or do anything like that before. His envy towards Harry had been sparked because he had waited more than eight months to see his child and he didn't even have one to call his own anymore.

"Hello??" a fist softly rapped against his head, "Anyone in there?" Without taking his eyes off the wall, he could tell she had moved so she was sitting next to him. _Poor Hermione, _he thought. Sure, it was one thing to have the chance of being a father dangled in front of you and then cruelly taken away, but Hermione had the chance to be a mother and because of him she didn't. He couldn't imagine what she was thinking when she delivered his nephew.

"Hermione," Fred spoke slowly. "Do you ever regret…?" he trailed off, hoping she would understand. To his pleasure, she did.

"Of course," she whispered slowly. "I don't think any one could do that and _not _regret it. I mean, it was a life I killed – not exactly the most rewarding feeling in the world."

Fred looked down to her. Her eyes were at the ground but he could tell they were starting to fill up with water; obviously the thought was causing her grief. Fred took her hand in his and gave it a kiss, "what would you say if we tried again?"

This caught Hermione in surprise, "w-what?"

"You heard me," he smiled. "What if we tried to have another? I'm not going anywhere this time."

"Are… are you sure?"

"Yeah… I mean, only if you want to too." The sudden amount of pressure that was applied to his lips indicated that Hermione wanted this as well.

* * *

**A/N: **_I officially hate what's happening. Okay… that's a lie. I hated this chapter, I disliked the last one and I loathed the one before that. People tell me they think otherwise, but it's just bothering me so much… but I definitely know what's happening next chapter and that gets me excited and I will have much fun writing it. Can anyone guess what it is?_

_Review – I am edging towards 100… lets try and get there people!!__ Special dedication for who wins the spot – start competing!! _

_Okay, truth? My exams __were last week and I'm sorry I couldn't get this out faster. And what makes it worse, I tried everyday to continue writing but my mojo for the chapter wasn't there and now the exams are over and I feel so bad for depriving you of a chapter. I'll try and make it up to you. I think update will be tomorrow._

_Lots of Love,  
__Creative Touch _

_P.S. I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, _**hate** _this chapter. Long and stupid. _


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: **_I had sooo much fun writing this. I hope you don't hate me for doing so. _LOL _I'm laughing now. Of course you're gonna hate me… read to find out why I think so!_

* * *

Last time:

"_You heard me," he smiled. "What if we tried to have another? I'm not going anywhere this time." _

"_Are… are you sure?" _

"_Yeah… I mean, only if you want to too." The sudden amount of pressure that was applied to his lips indicated that Hermione wanted this as well. _

* * *

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

**Filling in the Gap**

**Chapter 18**

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

"Hermione," Ginny said for the umpteenth time in the past three hours, "are you sure about this? I mean… isn't it a bit _fast_?"

"A bit but," Hermione smiled softly to herself, "I really think this is what we both want. And I just feel its right, you know?"

"No, I don't because I never had to do this," she waved her arm around to gesture the store they were in. "It's been barely three months, 'Mione. Are you _sure _you're not rushing into things?"

"Look, do you want to help or keep asking questions?" Hermione snapped.

Ginny put her hands up in defence, "I'm just making sure you're doing the right thing here. I don't know," she said at Hermione's look. "Maybe, just maybe… all the stress at work made you not think this out properly."

"Gin, I really, _really _want this. And I'm sure I've thought this out."

"And Fred? Did you think about him when you were "thinking this out"?"

Hermione scoffed, "What kind of a question is that? Of course he wants it too."

"Are you sure?" she cocked an eyebrow at the bushy haired witch. "Did you ask him?"

"Did Harry ask you before?"

"No, but--"

"But nothing! Ginny, trust me," Hermione put both hands on Ginny's shoulders. "I have thought this through. I want this. Is that so hard to accept?"

Ginny let out a sigh. "If you say so…" Ginny wandered for a moment before picking up a watch. "How about this one?"

Hermione came over for a closer glance, "no. It's not really Fred's thing."

"Is this normal?" Ginny just had to ask. "For a girl to ask?"

"I'll have you know," Hermione told, "that it's rare but not unheard of." Ginny arched an eyebrow at her. "What? It is."

"But c'mon…"

"Ginny, with your help or not… I am going to ask Fred to marry me." Just saying the words out loud (even if it was only Ginny) made Hermione swoon. The very thought of spending the rest of her life with Fred was overwhelming.

Ginny put her hands on her hips in a very Mrs. Weasley fashion. "Hermione Granger, are you absolutely _one hundred percent _sure that this is what you _both _want? Won't Fred be a little thrown back by this…engagement? It's not exactly normal."

"Since when did Fred like normal?"

"Touché" Ginny took another glance around the store. "So tell me again, how does this tradition work exactly?"

"Well," Hermione began. "When a girl proposes, it's done with a watch. Probably because no guy wants to wear a diamond ring on their finger." Ginny had to laugh at the very idea of her brother wearing something like a diamond ring.

"Good point," she laughed. "So when the guy does it, it's a ring. And when it's a girl, it's a watch. Alright, then." When Ginny said it, it sounded so easy, but yet Hermione found it really difficult to do. She wondered how so many boys were willing to find rings to propose with, if there were so many more rings than watches, and she was struggling to find _the _watch.

They had been to countless stores that day already, Ginny complaining about the whole idea the entire time. And no matter how many watches they came across, they just didn't seem to be right for either her or Fred. She didn't even know what specific things she was looking for in a watch, but she knew that if she saw it, it would be perfect.

"This watch take your fancy, 'Mione?" Ginny's voice came from the back of the store. Hermione looked up from the display of pocket watches that she had been looking at dully to see what Ginny was on about.

She shook her head and sighed, "if it's the purple one that resembles a cauldron and gives off green smoke at each hour, then I've seen it and no it doesn't take my fancy."

She saw Ginny put the watch back, "but I think it's perfect. It's got you and Fred written all over you. You love potions and Fred loves anything weird and bizarre." Hermione nodded, of course she knew this. But this engagement watch had to be more than describing them. She didn't want it to be some silly little watch that Fred could design himself, but something unique… something elegant but different…

Then, in the corner of her eye, Hermione saw it. The watched beamed at her from underneath the glass cabinet. The top half was the clock face, but also contained the number of days in the month. The other half was two bars that were separated by an emblem that showed magic occurring. The watch was clearly efficient, not only telling time but the date as well.

It was a stunning contrast of dark, midnight blue (which reminded Hermione of her lover's eyes), beige and silver on a thick black leather band. In Hermione's mind, this was the perfect watch.

"YES! I found it!" Hermione squealed at the very sight of the watch. She pressed her nose against the glass that separated her and the watch and cried out, "Ginny! This is the one! It's perfect!" the redheaded witch was over in two strides, and kneeled down next to Hermione.

"Wow," Ginny said, her voice a soft whisper, "you're right. That's a beautiful watch."

Hermione barked out a laugh, "Don't let Fred hear you say that. He would think it's too girly"

"Can I help you miss?" an old man that almost reminded the pair of Dumbledore, and probably was the owner of the store, asked Hermione.

Hermione straightened herself up, "yes. How much is that watch?" she pointed at the silver and blue marvel.

"Thirty-nine galleons," was the reply.

Ginny's voice filled her ear, "that's really expensive for a watch. Maybe we should take it as a sign?" Hermione rolled her eyes at her friend but didn't fret over something as petty as money.

"I'll give you thirty," she told the cashier.

"Thirty-seven"

"Thirty-three"

"Thirty five"

"Deal," Hermione grinned, ignoring Ginny's expression as she carefully counted the coins in her purse. The man unlocked the display cabinet that separated customer from seller, and withdrew the watch from its stand. He placed the watch, with the utmost care, into a black velvet box, which brought out the face of the clock more significantly. Hermione exchanged her coins for the box and she left the store with Ginny at her heels.

"Thirty-five galleons over a _watch_, Hermione," Ginny exclaimed as they made their way down Diagon Alley. "Hopefully you can get your money back if he says 'no'" Hermione stopped dead in her tracks, causing Ginny to crash into her.

Hermione rounded on her friend, "and what makes you think he will?"

Ginny put her hands up in defence, "I'm not implying anything but you've got to consider both answers. He could say 'no'…" Hermione shot her a look, "or 'yes'. Either way, just be prepared. Have a back-up plan."

"I don't need a back-up plan," she said coolly, but Ginny didn't seem to hear.

"It is a really nice watch," Ginny continued. "Perhaps you could give it to someone else as a gift. If not, you can always keep it for yourself. Though, I don't suppose you would want to because it probably would hold so much meaning to it…" Hermione didn't want to listen to Ginny ramble on what was going to happen if the worst occurred. She knew deep down that Fred wouldn't say 'no' to her: what they had was special and if those past few years didn't happen, they probably would have been married already.

"So when are you going to do it?" Ginny inquired, which indicated to Hermione that she had finished her babbling.

"When am I going to do what?"

"When do you plan to make the actual proposal?" Ginny repeated. "Do what Harry did and carry it in your pocket until the perfect moment came up?"

"Remind me to ask Harry once again how the prefect moment when Fleur's water broke," she smirked.

"I really don't think he did," Ginny responded, but giggled at the memory. "I think Fleur's water broke _whilst _he was proposing. You had to remember how embarrassed he was when we had to get Fleur to the hospital."

Hermione laughed, "yeah I do."

"So?"

"So what?"

"So when do you plan to propose to my brother?" Ginny said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I don't know…" an idea came across Hermione's mind and she couldn't help but smile at the very thought. "Hey, can you tell your mum that Fred and I won't be able to make it to Victoire's party?"

**X -- X**

"Do you think that mum and dad will mind that we're not at Victoire's birthday dinner?" Fred asked later that evening.

"I don't think so," Hermione replied. "It's only her third birthday. There will be more to come."

Fred looked at her with a mock surprised expression, "who are you and what have you done with my girlfriend?"

"What?"

"Never thought I would live to see the day that Hermione Granger would turn down a family dinner like this because there will be "more to come"."

"Well what am I suppose to say?" she asked.

Fred shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe say "we'll go later." Or "Not everyday a young girl is turning three." Are you sick or something?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Hermione said, taking another bite of the cheesecake she brought.

"You sure about that?" asked Fred. "You seem a bit…" he trailed off, searching for the right adjective.

"A bit…?" Hermione urged.

"Off" Fred finished

"Off?"

"Dazed," he supplied, "Out of it. What's with you tonight?" he propped his elbow on the table and leaned on his hand as he ate a mouthful of cheesecake.

"Nothing. Besides, why are you complaining?" she questioned. "We have the loft all to ourselves. I doubt George will be home any time soon."

Fred gave her a wicked grin, "planning something are we, Miss Granger?"

"Maybe," she giggled whilst batting her eyes. His eyes turned downcast and he gave himself a small smile before eating another bite of cheesecake. "You, however, also seem "off"."

"Perhaps it's this cheesecake," Fred replied.

"I _made_ this cheesecake," Hermione frowned.

Fred's eyes widened, "in that case, it's absolutely delicious and there is nothing wrong or weird with it!" He took another mouthful and said, "Mmm"

Hermione rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's tactics, "seriously, what's wrong? And don't say it's the pasta," Hermione added as he opened his mouth, "we both made that."

"I wasn't going to," Fred sighed and dropped his fork onto the plate, creating a loud clink as the metal hit the plate. "You do realise what the day is, right?"

"Err…?"

"Six years since the battle," Fred answered for her. "Six years ago… and to think I ran away to marry _her_," he shook his head, clearly disgusted with himself.

"Oh Fred," Hermione breathed, getting out of her seat and settling herself in Fred's lap. "I thought you were over this. You're _home_ now, where you belong," she told him, wrapping her arms around his neck and resting her forehead against his.

"I know… it's just _hard_ you know," Fred said. "To know what happened and how much time was wasted when we could have been together."

"Hey," she gave a light peck on his nose. "Don't talk like that. We're together now. That's all that matters."

His hands gripped her waist, bringing her closer so that their lips touched. "I love you, you know that?"

Hermione smiled, "I know. I love you too." Their lips collided once again, this time with a bit more passion. Hermione pulled back for a moment, "you know how you said that I seemed 'off' tonight? Well… there is something." She released her hold on Fred as he did the same on her and she climbed off his lap.

The timing couldn't have been more perfect in Hermione's mind. They had acknowledged change and their love for each other. The date had been Hermione's full intention, she knew what the day was and how it was six years ago since fate cruelly pulled them apart. But as she said, they were together now. And everything depended on her question.

Fred watched her suspiciously as she gave him a dazzling smile and pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Fred…" Hermione got down on one knee and whipped out the watch out of thin air, "will you marry me?"

There. Finally it was out into the open. Hermione's eyes shone brightly and hopefully at Fred as she awaited the answer. Even though she knew exactly what he was going to say…

"No."

…Wrong answer.

* * *

**A/N: O.o**

_GASP!! Yes, you saw it as well as I wrote it – Fred said "no". __But I bet you're shocked (probably not coz you may have figured it out with Ginny's ramblings) and your pale faces are whispering "what? Why? Why would CT do this?" - Oh believe me, I have my reasons. But alas, you will have to wait. I'm cheeky like that. _

_So a very quick update here because I just needed to write. That and I think you guys deserved a double update for the wait. Not like I hear anyone complaining or anything. I am amazed at the length of the chapter. Didn't think it would get this long, but it is! Haha, I'm happy._

_So review (only 5 reviews last chapter! See, I knew it sucked). Tell me your thoughts on this and why you think I did what I did… the 100__th__ spot is still in the running. _

_If anyone is curious to know what the watch looks like, here's a link (take out spaces):_

_http:__ / bp0. blogger. com/ GRScrEF3ryE/ RkrY8IJhkI/ AAAAAAAAAM8/ OKdl0Qkuhsg/ s320/ image7. jpg_

_You would be amazed at how many watches I researched to get to that watch. _

_Lots of love,  
__Creative Touch _

_xxx_

_P.S. Update will be _AFTER _I get the next instalment of _Time Weave _out, coz it's been a while. It needs a turn. But if I get more reviews then maybe not. _

_P.P.S. Anyone cry tears for the death of Marcus Belby actor?? _

* * *


	19. Chapter 19

**Dedication: **Okay, I didn't even realise this till just recently, but I reached 100 reviews _exactly_ for this story. So the lucky winner of this chapter is **LovinLife107**. Thanks for reviewing!!

**Special Mention: **To everyone and anyone who got it correct. Too many to name, but I presume that you're all practicing Legilimency.

* * *

Last time:

"_Fred…" Hermione got down on one knee and whipped out the watch out of thin air, "will you marry me?" _

_There. Finally it was out into the open. Hermione's eyes shone brightly and hopefully at Fred as she awaited the answer. Even though she knew exactly what he was going to say…_

"_No." _

…_Wrong answer. _

* * *

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

**Filling in the Gap**

**Chapter 19**

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

The single word sliced through Hermione like a sharp knife. Her whole body went numb, her throat was suddenly dry and tears were starting to well in her eyes. She had felt so stupid for making such an impulsive move. It had been barely three months and she had to go and spoil everything. Ginny was right…

She stared briefly into the midnight blue eyes that almost made the wall of water behind her eyes crash. He looked so frightened by her actions. She looked down and shut the box with a loud _snap_. All she could do was whisper, "oh"

"Hermione…" Fred started.

"No don't," she cut him off, fighting back the tears. She got up from her crouching position and brushed off some imaginary dust off her dress. "Don't say anything"

He ignored her request, "Hermione…"

"You know what? I have some… um… paperwork to do. And… uh… I should… really… get back." Sobs were getting caught in her throat but she swallowed them down even though her throat felt extremely dry.

"Hermione," he repeated.

Hermione quickly turned away so that he couldn't see the tears that escaped her eyes, "I gotta go. Um… maybe I'll see you around." She dashed off before Fred could give her a reply.

Thoughts clouded her mind as she quickly made her way out of the loft and down the stairs. None of which were good or gave her any form of comfort. How could she have been so stupid? Three months was barely enough time! She probably had scared him and now he wouldn't want to be with her anymore. Oh what a mess she had put herself in.

"Hermione!" she heard Fred call after her. His footsteps were rushing after her; each sound caused her heart to plummet further down into the pit of her stomach. She didn't want to be here anymore, especially with the last few minutes lingering above her throughout the store.

Hermione picked up her pace as she manoeuvred her way through the aisles, still trying to block out of Fred's voice and footsteps. Tears were brimming her eyes, and she knew she had to get out of there fast before the tears obscured her whole vision.

"Hermione, please… stop!" Fred caught up to her and put himself between her and the door. "Hermione, please…"

"No Fred…" the tears were falling and there was no stopping them, "I really should go…"

"Please Hermione, hear me out…" He tried to grab her hands but she moved back from his grip.

"No Fred," she shook her head, making her curls bounce in all directions. "Don't say anything. I'm sorry"

Fred took a step backwards and blinked at her in surprise, "sorry? What on earth are you sorry about?"

Hermione gave him a you've-got-to-be-kidding look and said, "I just proposed and you said 'no'. You're clearly not ready to go to that level and I'm sorry that I've made things awkward…"

"Whoa, whoa," Fred cut her off. "Who said that things are awkward?"

"Well aren't they?" Hermione asked timidly. "I've probably scared you off now and things will be different now because you know how I want to take this relationship to the next level and you're not ready…"

"There's a reason…"

"And we probably can't do anything without being reminded on where we both stand in the relationship…"

"Hermione…"

"And I really just think…"

"Listen…"

"That it's best if we broke up." You could hear a pin drop at the end of Hermione's sentence. Both pair of eyes widen in shock as realisation of the words hit the both of them.

"W-w-what?" Fred croaked. "You want to break up?"

"I…" she was speechless and was gaping at the words that she had blurted out. "I… I… I don't know" she said helplessly but honestly. "I… just thought… it might be… what you want…" the last part was in a shallow whisper and more tears spilled down her cheeks.

Fred ran a hand through his head, trying to understand the last few moments of the night. "I don't want to break up with you, Hermione."

"You don't? But I thought…"

"Oh Merlin," Fred exhaled a breath. "Where on earth would you get the idea that I might want to break up with you over this? Don't answer that," he added after seeing her mouth open, only to shut again at his plea. "You have to stop jumping to conclusions like that. Neither of us want to break up, right? And true, I said 'no' but that doesn't mean anything…"

Hermione jumped in, "What do you mean it doesn't mean anything? That proposing to you is meaningless and…"

Fred clamped his hand over her mouth, "Shut up for a moment, will you? Just listen to me…" It was his last resource to silence her without using his wand. He loved her but she wouldn't let him have a single sentence without trailing off the line he had been needing to say all night. Hermione nodded dumbly at him but could feel a faint blush appear in her cheeks. "Will you at least listen to why I said 'no'?" Again, Hermione nodded her response.

"Look…" Fred began, removing his hand from her mouth. "I may not seem like it… but there are some things that I believe in. And that's tradition and believe it or not, I'm a man of tradition." Fred reached into his pockets and pulled out a velvet box. "I've been… saving this for you for six years. I've just been waiting for the right moment."

Hermione couldn't help but laugh through her tears as Fred got down on one knee, "I wouldn't say that this was the most romantic moment but it will have to do. Hermione Granger… will you do me the _greatest _honour of becoming my wife?" The lid of the velvet box flipped open to unveil a stunning, yet simple, pink diamond heart on a silver band with exquisite carvings.

"I'll have to think about it." Fred put on a fake pout that caused Hermione's tears of sadness become ones of laughter and joy as she whispered one word, "yes."

* * *

**A/N:**_Huzzah! They are engaged now!! _

_You smart little cheeks. I freaked when a flood load of reviews came in saying that Fred said 'no' because he wanted to propose. How did you suss me out?__ Seriously, how did you!? I thought I was being creative!_

_I had this whole engagement at the back of my mind for ages… and unlike many of the most recent chapters – this is exactly how I planned it to be. I very much liked the idea of the both of them proposing to each other on the same night. __**Ignore the length of this chapter.**_

_I almost freaked at the whole "I wanna break up" bit. I didn't mean to write that. But when I did, I knew it had to stay but I didn't want them to break up. I had a vision that they did at that very moment but prevented myself from doing so because it would have ruined everything that I've planned. So phew!_

_Review__… because I got them engaged. And I wrote another chapter... and because you wanna and you want to shower me with praise and pure bliss._

_Infinite X's and O's,  
__Creative Touch _

_xxx _

_P.S. new poll – please vote._


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: **_An average update here. Probably because one of my best friends moved away to Sweden forever and I just felt like I needed to write. No I didn't display my emotions here, so don't fret. However, I just wanna say this:_

_If there is one thing I'll always be proud of: it is that I got her to read the _whole_ Harry Potter series. If you met my friends, you would understand how much that means to me… _

**Dedication: **To my friend, Emelie. I know you aren't reading this and probably never will (which I suppose makes this a waste of a dedication), but at least you know about Harry and his adventures. And for that I am thankful that you took the time to read it for me.

* * *

Last time:

_Hermione couldn't help but laugh through her tears as Fred got down on one knee, "I wouldn't say that this was the most romantic moment but it will have to do. Hermione Granger… will you do me the greatest honour of becoming my wife?" The lid of the velvet box flipped open to unveil a stunning, yet simple, pink diamond heart on a silver band with exquisite carvings._

"_I'll have to think about it." Fred put on a fake pout that caused Hermione's tears of sadness become ones of laughter and joy as she whispered one word, "yes." _

* * *

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

**Filling in the Gap**

**Chapter 20**

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

Hermione was in love.

She was in love with something magnificent.

With something that sparked her fancy deeply.

Something that was chiselled into perfection by angels.

So perfect that she couldn't help but smile when her eyes met it.

Yes, Hermione Granger was in love… with her engagement ring.

Hermione sighed again and the two-day-long smile stretched across her face as she continued to gaze at the pink diamond that sat on her left hand. Her smile grew as a pair of muscular arms wrapped themselves around her waist and gentle kisses were placed on her jaw line. "Morning" she giggled to her fiancé.

"Please tell me you weren't admiring the ring again," Fred asked with a soft chuckle.

Hermione playfully elbowed him in the ribs but her eyes never left the pink heart, "and why shouldn't I admire my engagement ring?"

"Because people are going to think you're marrying the ring, not me."

"Is someone jealous that they're not getting any attention?" Hermione joked. A sudden crunching noise caused her eyes to snap off the ring and onto her fiancé, who had stolen her piece of toast. "Hey! Make your own breakfast."

Fred shoved the rest of the toast in his mouth, "you stare at the ring; you lose your breakfast. It's all to do with karma, darling." Before Hermione could protest, Fred swoop down and kissed her deeply on the lips, causing her to forget what she was about to say. Hermione instinctively placed her hand on the back of his neck, pulling him in further, letting their tongues entwine…

"Merlin," a voice came from the other side of the room. "You guys go at it like jackrabbits" Fred pulled away with an annoyed look and faced his brother.

"Oh shut it, George. I don't go on about you and Katie," he commented, "Though I think Hermione should teach you two on how to perform a silencing charm."

A very faint blush appeared in George's cheeks, "I can see that you two have been productive last night," he commented, eyeing their outfits. Hermione pulled down the only item of clothing she wore, which happened to be Fred's Quidditch jersey and only went half-way down her thighs. She blushed at the statement and not the fact of George seeing her in the jersey – he had seen her wear less when he walked in on them when they were younger.

Fred, only wearing a pair of plaid boxers, stuck out his tongue at his twin, "you're just jealous because Katie's gone to Australia for two weeks."

"Don't remind me," George groaned, running a hand through his hair. The motion stopped as he looked at them, "you two better get changed," he told the pair. "Mum wants you guys to drop by for lunch today, seeing as you missed Victoire's birthday and all."

"Well," Hermione smiled, and ran her hand up and down Fred's arm, "we had our reasons."

"Yeah, about that," George crossed his arms over his chest, "when do you plan on telling everyone? Not that I mind being the only one who knows but if you want them to come to your wedding…"

"Wait…" Fred interjected. "You haven't told Ginny?" he questioned his lover.

Hermione shook her head, "not yet."

"She probably hasn't found the time what with you always groping her 24/7" George told the younger twin. Fred made a hand gesture which in return, received a smack in the arm and a scolding look from Hermione. "She's got you whipped already" George grinned. "So when do you plan to tell them?" he asked this more to the female in the room than his copy.

"Um…" Hermione looked up at Fred, "I suppose… today?"

"Today?" Fred repeated

"That depends," her eyes went back to the elder twin, "who else is coming today?"

George shrugged, "probably everyone. You know how mum is. There's bound to be someone else in attendance than you two."

"What do you mean "us two?"?" Fred asked. "Aren't you coming as well?"

"No way," George responded. "I did my time. Plus, someone needs to run the store today. Oh that reminds me: can you bring that cake in the fridge to mum? Just to show her that I have some cooking skills."

Hermione gave him a curious look, "You don't mean the cake that's burnt in the _middle_, do you?"

"How on earth did you manage to burn it in the middle?" Fred asked, torn between curiosity and amusement.

"Well…" George's ears turned a vague shade of pink. "It didn't turn out _exactly _the way it was suppose to and it's the thought that… just take it to her, will you? It will just get me out of a scolding from her for not coming, okay?"

"Fine, fine" Fred held his hands up in defence but it was clear by his facial expression that he was trying very hard not to laugh at his brother at that moment. "But you seriously have to tell me how you managed to do it. Perhaps we can use it in a product or something"

George rolled his eyes, "Maybe some other time"

"Why don't you want to go see your mother? That's pretty cruel," Hermione inquired.

"You" he pointed at the two, "didn't have to listen to her try and persuade me to get married to Katie and…" George tilted his head to side like a curious child, "you guys already beat me to it. YES!" he punched the air "you guys are going to preoccupy her for a while. You have _got _to tell her today! She's going to have a field day!"

Hermione burst into fits of laughter as George rushed over to her and twirled her around before pulling her into an enormous bear hug. "An extra 5 discount on the first customer today!" he told them both gleefully before fleeing down the stairs to the stair. Fred rolled his eyes at his brother as Hermione bit her lip to stop laughing as they heard George fall down the remaining steps from too much enthuasim.

Fred turned to his girlfriend, "so," he said. "You sure you want to do this today?"

"Positive" she gave him a grin, George's actions had caused her to feel equally happy and excited. "George is right. We need guests at a wedding… so we can actually have a proper wedding. And then a wedding night…" she gave him a wink as she splayed her fingers across his chest.

"So I suppose we better get ready," Fred whispered in her ear. "It will be a big day. Care to join me in the shower, Miss Granger?" Hermione let out a squeal of shock and delight as Fred effortlessly picked her up and threw her over his shoulder before making a beeline for the bathroom.

**X -- X**

Fred and Hermione appeared at the Burrow, holding hands and beaming smiles which some of the older Weasley men shrugged off as "someone got lucky last night". Of course, nobody was going to tell them how semi-right they were. Hermione hid her left hand behind her back when she was greeted by her future mother-in-law, so that she wouldn't spoil the fun that was to announce their engagement.

They ventured into the living room to find that the Potters had arrived before them. Fred gave Hermione a look that told her to go tell her best friends of their bliss and love. She gave him a grateful peck on the lips and walked over to her two friends, "hello Ginny, Harry" she greeted them. "How's my favourite godson?" she cooed at the baby in Harry's arms.

"He's your only godson 'Mione," Harry told her. "But he's being fussy today. He didn't quite enjoy the sensation of side-along apparation"

"Of course he didn't," she said, bending down to stroke the infant's dark hair with her right hand, "who does?" Hermione smirked as she saw Ginny watching her in the corner of her eye as she got back up.

Ginny eyed her curiously. Hermione giggled and stuck out her left hand and wiggled her fingers to show her best friend, the dazzling ring that sat on her finger. Ginny got up and squealed as she hugged her best friend, "You're engaged!"

"But I thought you were going to propose?" Harry inquired, remembering the conversation he had with her when the two females returned from their shopping trip days prior.

"She did," Fred said, snaking his right arm around Hermione's waist and raising his left hand at the same time to show the engagement watch around his wrist.

"I told you he would say "no"," Ginny smirked and playfully hit Hermione in the arm.

Hermione stared at her in disbelief, "you knew? You knew he was going to propose?"

Fred seemed to have the same thought, "you knew she was going to propose?" he asked his sister. Ginny just gave them a mischievous grin.

"Just wanted to have some fun and see what would happen," Ginny shrugged. "Besides, I told _you_," she pointed at Hermione, "not to go through with it."

"That you did," Hermione smiled, resting her head on Fred's shoulder. "I should have listened to you. We wouldn't have broken up then"

Ginny and Harry both exclaimed in unison, "what!?"

Fred grinned and kissed Hermione on the forehead, "we broke up for about thirty seconds because _someone _thought I was going to dump her over this little mishap, which I have to thank you kind sister for." Hermione blushed very prettily, even whilst rolling her eyes at her fiancé.

The dulcet tones of Mrs. Weasley entered the room to tell them that lunch had been served. Fred held Hermione back for a moment; "we're going to do this, right?" his voice seemed to quaver a bit.

"Of course we are," Hermione said eyeing him carefully.

"Then let's do it," Fred replied, taking her hand and giving it a rather hard squeeze. They strolled into the dining room to find that George was pretty accurate. The only families of the Weasley siblings that were not in attendance were George, Percy and Charlie – who all had the excuse of work to escape today. But of course, Fred's eyes fell upon a certain redhead in the room and frowned: Ron was there.

Hermione cleared her throat, breaking all thoughts Fred had of stunning his brother so that they could announce their engagement without another fight breaking out. "Everyone" Hermione said, "we have something we want to tell you." She gave Fred a little nudge, letting him know that she wanted him to tell them.

"Um…" he scanned the room at the faces in the room. His mother was looking anxious, Ginny was looking pretty proud of herself and Ron's eyes had narrowed at the two. He swallowed and wrapped his arm around Hermione's shoulders before announcing, "We, that is Hermione and I… are going to be married" Fred cringed, expecting a voice to break out in protest or another punch in the face, but instead the whole room exploded in a series of claps and whistles. Mrs. Weasley ran to both of them and engulfed them into a hug, murmuring how she knew this was going to happen.

Fred looked past his mother to see Ron at the table. Ron raised his glass to them and mouthed "congratulations" before taking a sip from the glass. Fred stared at him in scepticism but didn't ponder on it for very long, and planted a kiss on top of Hermione's bushy head.

The lunch went better than either of the two anticipated. Fred knew that George would be happy as his mother kept her conversation around the idea of a wedding to plan. By the end of the meal, everyone was talking about flower arrangements, or dates for the wedding.

Hermione enjoyed herself. The very idea of a wedding no longer scared her. Not that it ever did or anything, but at the beginning of the year, she didn't want to be tied down. But all that had changed. She was with Fred now and that was all that mattered. She excused herself as Mrs. Weasley brought out her famous peach pie, to go to the bathroom and told Fred to wait till they got back to the apartment when he suggested in her ear that he would meet her in the bathroom in five minutes.

Hermione emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later. It was hard to believe that it was in this very hallway that Ron had first caught her and Fred kissing two months ago. She was pretty astonished at the way he had reacted to their engagement. He had taken it pretty well… well, better than she had expected.

She never quite forgot the words he spoke to Fred at St. Mungo's but he seemed to have let go of all these emotions and just let them be. And that made Hermione smile. Perhaps Ron wasn't so bad after all…

A sudden rush of wind went by her as she was slammed against the wall. "Ron!" she gasped "what on earth do you think you're doing?"

"You're engaged?" he hissed

"Well… yes…"

"What changed?"

Hermione trembled at his tone, "what do you mean?"

"What changed?" he repeated. "What happened to the Hermione Granger at the beginning of this year?"

She bit her lip, "I haven't changed, Ron. Just the situation has…"

"Situation? It's a guy asking for your hand"

"Fred's alive this time"

"What does that have to do with you saying no to me?"

"I couldn't marry you because…" Hermione was at a loss for words, "because… because it wouldn't be right. You're one of my best friends…"

"Oh but you will marry my brother but not me?" Ron inquired. "I wasn't good enough?"

"You _know _it wasn't like that, Ron" Hermione argued. "I love Fred…"

Ron cut in, "like you said you loved me"

"I told you: I loved you like a brother" she explained "What Fred and I have is completely different to what you and I had"

"In what way?" he hissed at her.

"Don't use that tone with me," she snapped. "And Fred and I have something a lot more passionate than you and I ever had. It's what meant to be whether you like it or not"

Hermione sucked in a breath as she watched Ron's actions. Ron raised his hand as if to hit her, but slowly retracted his hand, debating whether or not it was worth it. Hermione was able to breathe a little easier watching his hand travel back down to his side, where it remained until he spoke again, "So you basically are only marrying him for a daily good shag. I wonder if he knows that"

"I love Fred," she protested.

Ron scoffed, "you only love shagging him"

"You're just jealous that I didn't love you the same way"

"I'm not jealous of someone who has a scarlet woman for a future wife" Ron retorted. "And Fred will never be anything but a fool for marrying you"

"Just leave Fred out of this" Hermione growled. "This is about you and me"

"He's in this whether or not you want him to be," he spat at her. "He's a git and doesn't care for anyone but himself"

"Fred's ten times the man that you will ever dream to be!" Hermione argued, "And _you're _the one who's selfish!"

Ron lifted his hand again and this time: he striked, slapping her across her face. It took a few seconds to occur and Hermione was still so shocked after it happened that she didn't know what had just took place. She looked at her ex-boyfriend who was staring at her, his eyes wide and breathing ragged. Ron gave her a look, a cross between shock and anger and without another word, disapparated out of there.

Hermione leaned back against the wall and took deep breaths. She put a hand to her cheek, only to find it wet with tears that she didn't even know were there. She slid down the wall, burying her head in her hands and cried.

It wasn't until she felt a familiar warmth hover near her some minutes later, that she peeked through her spiky eyelashes to find another redheaded male…

Fred.

* * *

**A/N: **_DONE!_

_I had this amazing urge to write, and once I started… I couldn't stop!! Hence the length of this chapter. I hope it happens again: it was fun! __:)__ Oh and the ending…well… didn't quite go to plan, but my original was too anticlimactic for my liking. _

_Well my three week holiday __has started and I'm not going anywhere so prepare yourselves for the updating of a lifetime! I plan to go days doing nothing but writing. So I'm assuming that this, along with several other stories, will be updated a few times in the next few weeks. _

_OH! And I should mention (so she doesn't sue me), that _kayko15 _gave me the idea of George's cake. LOL. She knows what I'm on about._

_Update will be soon. That I promise. Review and the faster it will be (only 5 reviews last time! I thought the chapter was better than that!). Go on, review!_

_Lots of Love,  
__Creative Touch _

_P.S. Poll it. _


	21. Chapter 21

**Dedication: **_To one of the sweetest reviewers I've ever had the pleasure of meeting: _One-Eight. _A true diamond in the ruff and of course, my new partner in crime. _

**Special Mention: **_to everyone who awaited patiently for this chapter, despite the fact that I promised it long ago. Thanks for your patience. _

**A/N: **_THE DATE PEOPLE!! What happened on this very day last year!? DH was released and the majority of fans discovered the fate of Fred. I hope you remembered that. _

Last time:

_It wasn't until she felt a familiar warmth next to her some minutes later, that she peeked through her spiky eyelashes to find another redheaded male…_

_  
Fred. _

* * *

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

**Filling in the Gap**

**Chapter 21**

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

"He hurt you" it was a statement that constantly came out of Fred's mouth over the next ten minutes or so. "He hurt you" he stated again, putting his hand to the red mark. He rubbed it as if he could try and wipe away a slap.

"I know, Fred," Hermione said. "It doesn't even hurt that much" she lied and she knew that Fred knew it. Her eyes welled with tears every time he made contact with it.

Fred took in a breath and held out his hand to help her up from her crumpled up state on the floor. "I'll kill him," he vowed as he helped her onto her feet.

"Fred, no" she protested, shaking her head of chestnut curls. "Don't make this any worse"

"Hermione, he hurt you…"

"So you keep saying." She splayed her hands on his chest, "please don't do anything stupid. He's got every reason to be upset."

Fred growled, "Upset is one thing but he actually hit you, 'Mione. There's no reason for that."

"I provoked him," Hermione told him. "It got out of hand, and I shouldn't have aggravated him. I just wanted him to understand that I want to be with you and not him."

"Hermione," he sighed, putting his hands on top of hers. "You can't honestly expect me to stay here and let him do this to you, can you?"

She shook her head, "but please don't do anything. Not yet, anyways." She could see Fred fight every morsel in his body to not go after his younger brother. "Please, Fred, for me."

"For you," he gave in. "But only this once. If he does as so much talk to you again, I will have to murder him"

Hermione put a hand to his cheek, "you're going a bit over the top with this. I don't think that he did it on purpose."

"So he was just waving his arms around and just ended up hitting you across the face?" Fred said in a bitter tone.

"He wouldn't have done it without reason. I did tell him he was selfish."

"And he is," Fred told her. "Git," he added under his breath. He took both of her hands and entwined them with his fingers before continuing, "soon, we will be married and he won't be able to stop us from being together." Ron's words echoed in Hermione's head at that moment, and suddenly the idea of marriage seemed too scary for her liking. Which was weird considering all she went through with Harry when they were younger.

"How soon are we talking about?" she said softly, her eyes avoiding his.

Fred shrugged, "as soon as possible right? I mean, we're already moving this fast – why stop now?" Hermione felt a knot in her stomach tighten at his words.

"I need a walk," Hermione declared. "I-I need to clear my head."

"Do you want me to come--?"

"No," she said, a bit too quickly. "I need to go alone." She untangled her fingers from his, "and don't you dare go after Ron whilst I'm gone."

He grabbed her arm as she tried to walk away. Fred's eyes looked at her with concern. "Hermione, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just--"

"Then why don't I believe that?" he demanded.

Hermione looked up at him, tears starting to glisten in her eyes. "I don't know if I can do this," she said in a soft whisper. "I don't know if I can marry you."

"A-are you breaking up with me?" he asked hurt

"No, never," Hermione replied. "I love you. But I don't know if I can marry you this soon. I need to take a walk; I need to think this out." She gave him a gentle peck on the cheek before making her decent down the stairs.

Hermione kept walking away from Fred, passing the others as she went by. She did not stop to explain anything, but just kept going, walking out the back door before she could answer anyone's questions.

"Where's Hermione going?" Harry asked his brother-in-law as he appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

"Oh…um… she had a headache and wanted some fresh air," Fred made up on the spot. "She'll be back soon"_ I hope, _he added in his head.

"She seemed fine a moment a--"

"Listen," Fred interjected. "If she comes back, could you tell her that I'm in my room?"

Harry gave him a questioning look, "alright…"

"Where did Ron go?" his mother asked, coming into the room, filling it up with the smell of her famous peach pie.

"He just left," Fred answered flatly. "Something came up. Mum I'm not feeling so hungry right now." He turned and left, ignoring his mother's questions about his appetite and the whereabouts of his younger brother.

Fred climbed up the stairs and entered the sanctuary of his room, praying that Hermione would return soon.

**X -- X**

Hermione walked swiftly across the garden, her head clouded with thoughts. The wind blew through her curls, and one sentence rode upon those winds and gently whispered in her ear: _"What happened to the Hermione Granger at the beginning of this year?"_

What had happened to her? Sure, she had insisted that nothing had changed but now that she had a bit more time to think about it, she was positive that something had definitely altered. Her reasons for rejecting Ron were clear, but somehow unworthy to support her case.

Marriage was now in the open. Had her thoughts on marriage changed? She didn't want to be tied down at the beginning of the year, and it was barely half the year and she had suddenly decided that she did want to get married after all. Why was that? She kept persist that it was because Fred was back in her life, but what if he wasn't? What if he did die those so many years ago? Would she still want to be married? She can't have changed all her views for one man, could she?

She pondered over whether or not she should get married. Sure, she loved Fred but it still had been only three months since they got together. Did they really know each other as well as they said they did? Was strawberry still his favourite fruit? Was his favourite colour still purple? Was he still the same man she knew those many years ago?

Hermione felt her stomach tighten: she did not give them enough time.

Her walk continued like this for quite some time. Her mind tried to smooth out the creases in her life that troubled her, but she soon discovered that this was something that her mind couldn't decide for her. This was a problem that had to be solved by her emotions and feelings, and not the equation that her brain tried to make it seem.

Hermione let out a frustrated sigh. In the past hour, she had changed her views almost completely. She might as well go tell Fred how she now felt about the situation. She could only hope that he would be alright with it.

**X -- X**

Hermione entered the Burrow once more, only to find that the others had moved on from their lunch and were now watching attentively as Mr. Weasley told some old wizarding fairytale to the younger children. She watched as Fleur snuggled up to Bill as Victoire clapped enthusiastically every time that her grandfather put on a different voice. Would this be her and Fred in so many years time?

Hermione put a hand to her stomach as if she was expecting, thinking how desperately the two were wanted kids, even before they were married. She didn't want to put off kids for much longer, seeing her best friends and her second family start to settle down and have families of their own, she desired to have a child of her own.

"Hey" a voice crept up from behind her as a hand softly landed on her shoulder. Hermione spun around to find herself staring into the green eyes of her best friend. She quickly made sure her bushy hair was casually covering the red mark left by Ron. "You okay?" Harry asked. Hermione nodded her response, but did not trust her own voice, even around her best friend. He raised his eyebrows at her silence. "Fred's upstairs in his room" he told her, before joining his wife on the couch, but not without giving her a look of concern.

Hermione forced herself to turn away from the happy family moment and climb up the rickety stairs to Fred's bedroom. She quickly summarised in her head what she was going to tell Fred, and even to her, it didn't make any sense. Families, marriage, time – when did it all get so complicated?

When she entered the old bedroom, she found Fred lying on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, obviously deep in his own thoughts. "Fred" she called out to him. Fred's train of thoughts broke as he sat up upon hearing the voice.

"Hey" he greeted her flatly. Hermione moved towards him, sitting on the bed once reaching him. "Are you alright?" As she did with Harry, Hermione nodded her response. But it didn't last long as her silent yes evolved into a no and she shook her head as tears rolled down her cheeks. "Hey, what's wrong? What's the matter?" Fred inquired, alarmed. He wrapped his arms around her as she sniffled out a "we need to talk."

"What about, sweetheart?" said Fred, almost too afraid to ask.

"About us. About where we're going. About everything," she got out between sniffles.

Fred kissed her temple. "Let's see," he said. "We're in love, we're going to get married and nothing else matters."

"I don't think that's the case."

"Then what do you think?" he questioned, his arms slipping off her.

"I think we need to slow down," she stated. "Take these things one step at a time."

"One step at a time…" Fred repeated in a mumble.

Hermione took his hands in hers, "I'm not asking you to hold off our marriage forever. Just to wait a bit more so we don't rush into these things."

"What is the next step after getting engaged then?" Fred said in a slight growl. "Get married? Because I'm pretty sure you said we can't do that yet."

"No I didn't."

"Not in so many words."

Hermione placed her hands on either side of his face and forced him to look her in the eye. "We _will _get married. One day in the future. Just not as immediately as we would like it to. Ron's right – it's only been 3 months since we got together, and 5 since _he _proposed. It is a bit fast, even for two people in love."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded, "it's not like we've gotten to do everything we should do before we got engaged yet."

Fred let out a sigh and took both of her hands from their positions. He kissed the palm of one of them. "One step at a time," he whispered. "Then let's go back a step."

"What do you mean?"

"Move in with me."

* * *

**A/N: **_I hate screwing up my initial plan…_

_I didn't for this chapter… well… not by a lot. Okay, I did - but only because I screwed up the end of the last chapter. I knew where I wanted to be at the end of the chapter and I got there, I hope whatever I altered won't affect my future – or that will suck.  
__  
Anyways, things have been insanely hectic for me. I'm rather annoyed with my friends for dragging me away from my writing for the past__ few weeks and even more annoyed with myself for allowing them to. I've been on 11 shopping sprees in the past 3 weeks. _

_School starts tomorrow. Be disappointed in me for not keeping promises. Trust me, the guilt is eating me alive as we speak._

_Review because I need something to look forward to when I return home from school tomorrow_

_Lots of Love,  
__Creative Touch_

**Side-note: **_Dear faithful readers,_

_Curious for me to know: how many of you can touch-type? I, for one, can… but I have found a lack of people that share this…'talent'. None of the people close to me (well my mother claims she can but that's up for debate) can touch-type and I wonder how many people actually can…_

_We live in the 21__st__ century and I used to assume that everyone knew how to, considering how many hours people (such as myself) spend on the computer. _

_So faithful readers…_

CAN YOU TOUCH-TYPE??

_Would like to see the results… if __close to none reply in review, I'll make a poll._

_Lots of Love again,  
__Creative Touch_

_P.S. I only just realised this writing this chapter… but look down at your keyboard and put your finger on the _F _key, then move up one, then one to the left, and then one down. Tell me, whose name does that spell? LOL. Trippy_

* * *


	22. Chapter 22

**Dedication: **_Oh JOYOUS…err… week/s, my faithful readers. My beloved _kayko15 _has returned to me, and I am ever so happy! _

_Just because she gets a dedication for returning, is NOT an invitation __for anyone to vanish too._

* * *

Last time:

_Fred let out a sigh and took both of her hands from their positions. He kissed the palm of one of them. "One step at a time," he whispered. "Then let's go back a step."_

"_What do you mean?" _

"_Move in with me."_

* * *

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

**Filling in the Gap**

**Chapter 22**

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

When Fred Weasley entered his bedroom, he didn't intend on tripping over a pile of books that had been carelessly put there. He should have seen it coming – after all it was the third time that it had happened that day. The only difference was that this time, he didn't hit the hard floor after the slight tumble. A pair of brown eyes looked at him with an alarming concern, "Oh my… I'm so sorry. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Fred answered bluntly as he regained his balance. Turning his gaze away from the small mound of literature, he realised that his fiancé was standing only a few meters away, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. "What are you doing up? You should be in bed, not rearranging the furniture… again." He looked around the room, observing the obvious changes of where furniture was moved.

Hermione sneezed on cue and blinked wearily at him. "You don't expect me to sit around all bed with nothing to do, do you?" she croaked.

Fred walked over to his girlfriend and placed a hand gently on her forehead, "you're still burning up. People with Wizard's Flu aren't suppose to be moving furniture. C'mon, back to bed with you," he ordered with a slight nudge towards the bed. Hermione exhaled a breath and climbed into the double bed commenting on how she hated being sick.

"No one enjoys being sick, love," Fred smiled as he sat on the side of the bed. "Especially those who have to drink this," he pulled out a dark green bottle from his pocket. "Mum says that it will get your fever down and if you take it a few times a day, you'll be right as rain in no time." He kissed her burning cheek, "and that means no more rearranging of the furniture till then, alright?"

Hermione looked slightly irritated as she coughed out, "but if I don't do it now, all this stuff will get in the way."

"Don't worry, we'll find room."

"I just didn't think my belongings would take so much space," said Hermione. "Are you sure that you still want me to move in? I haven't told my landlord I've moved out yet, I could always go back." Fred had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. She had been saying the same thing for the past week, when she first started to move her stuff into the loft above the store.

"Hermione," he told her, pouring the potion into a tablespoon he conjured up. "We can't take things one step at a time if we don't take a single step. Now open and take this."

Hermione coughed and spluttered after swallowing the small amount of potion. "That's stuff is ghastly," she protested.

Fred threw his head back and laughed. "Hence the reason why I said that no one enjoys being sick if they have to drink this stuff. But trust me; it works… as long as you take it regularly." He chuckled at the pout Hermione gave him. "It's only for a little while. It's not the end of the world."

"It is," she insisted. "Especially considering you won't let me do anything but lie here."

Fred shrugged, "you need your rest. Plus, I don't think the ministry would approve of you giving your colleagues the virus, either. I can't believe you tried to sneak out to work this morning."

"Well what was I suppose to do?" Hermione retorted. "You won't let me work from home, or let me find space for all my stuff. You're going to seriously injure yourself if you keep tripping over my books."

"Maybe if you didn't keep putting them in the doorway, I would stop tripping over them!" Fred laughed. He reached for her, his fingers brushing gently against her cheek when she attempted a glare. "I know it's a bit cramped but we'll manage."

"I know," she sighed at the simple gesture. "But we're trying to fit two apartments into one. It's not going to be easy."

"Who said it was going to be?"

Hermione gave him a wry smile, "I just thought it would be easier than this." Honestly, so did Fred. Moving in sounded easy enough at the start, but as Hermione had said: they were trying to fit two apartments into one. Hermione had originally proposed that he would be the one to move in to her London apartment, but he denied the offer. He had to explain to her that George was Fred's twin, and further more, best friend. Fred couldn't just move out so soon after moving back in.

He also reminded Hermione of the fact that she was already more at the loft than her own apartment.

Fred kissed her forehead, "I guess we both did." He reached up and brushed a stray curl out of her eyes. "But I promise you that with time, we'll move out of here and get a house of our own. Perhaps when we get married, love."

Hermione arched an eyebrow at him. "And when, pray tell, is that?" she questioned.

A smile spread across Fred's face. "Whenever you want. Tomorrow, next week… whenever," he replied softly, his fingers playing in the tangles of her chestnut curls. Hermione sighed at his words, she couldn't delay the wedding for long. It wasn't like it wasn't something she didn't want – she wanted it so badly. But something just didn't click and it just happened to be the conversation she had with Ron last week.

Why though? She never let anything like this bother her so before, but now she questioned on how fast they were moving. He did only just come back into her life and yet they were acting as if they had been together forever. But she loved that feeling, and she wanted to keep moving on: settle down and raise a family. But there was something about this that was a bit unsettling. Something that she couldn't put her finger on…

She looked at him with her chocolate eyes. "Will you still love me if I make you wait?"

Fred nodded but his blue eyes showed an emotion that Hermione feared she would see: hurt. Of course, Fred didn't let this come out in his response, "I will still love you, even if we get married when we're old with grey hair. I'll always love you." He leaned in slightly to plant a kiss on her soft lips.

Fred's lips barely touched hers before she pulled back. "You're going to get sick," she reminded.

Fred leaned forward again, his lips lightly grazing her bottom lip. "I really don't care," he whispered before he captured her lips with her own.

* * *

**A/N: **_Okay, a little filler here. Only two people know why, and one of which is me, obviously. And this little thing was inspired by my own sickness that I'm experiencing atm._

_Okay, excuse, excuses… I'm like a million miles underg__round… my workload is that heavy. I just recently got a job and that takes up the precious hours I'm not spending studying. I'm struggling people, please bear with me. _

_I was so glad to discover that many of you read th__ese A/Ns and by extension, the bizarre little random side notes I write afterwards. I'm not alone in the touch-typing world!! You actually took the time to read and answer it. THANKS! _

_So I have another question for you that comes from last time. I tried this typing test for speed and accuracy on _typingtest (dot) com_. Anyways, I did it with some friends (mindful that I am one of the few that can accurately touch-type) and I discovered that I can type as fast as _92 words per minute, _with 98_ _accuracy. Do the test and tell me how you go!_

_By the way, what did you think of this filler__? I think it was pretty terrible but who knows? You may think otherwise._

_Anyways, review for the sake of reviewing and blah, blah, blah…_

_Lots of Love__,  
__Creative Touch _

_P.S. I'm still absolutely shattered over the HBP delay… _


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: **_Guess what, readers? The other week I celebrated my one year dedication to this site. Have yet to actually complete a story. Don't look at me like that -- _DOUBLE UPDATE!!

* * *

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

**Filling in the Gap**

**Chapter 23**

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

Fred Weasley climbed the stairs to the loft above the store, after locking it up. George had vanished with Katie about an hour ago, leaving poor Fred alone to lock up the stores. But then again, he was pretty thankful that the brunette had whisked his twin away for the night, for it gave him and Hermione the apartment all to the themselves, which was something that was pretty rare considering that Halloween was approaching and they needed to get out a new product out before the sacred date.

Fred whistled a made-up tune softly as he continued to walk up the stairs, something he did whenever he was alone, whether it was in the corridors of Hogwarts or in the shower. It was a habit he picked up when he was younger and was afraid of being alone (and being a twin, it was a surreal experience to be separated) yet even when he was no longer afraid of independence, he was never quite able to break the habit. However, he trailed off his tune as his hand met the brass knob and turned it to find…

Darkness.

Puzzled by the lack of light, he flicked the nearest light switch, filling the room with a bright glow. The room stayed motionless, which puzzled the redheaded wizard even more. "Hermione?" he called out to the stillness "You here?" When no reply came back, he began to think that Hermione must have also vanished for the night. Running a hand through his hair, he decided to retreat to the kitchen for a well-deserved snack. Passing the couch as he went headed towards the kitchen, his eyes spotted something that he didn't see before.

There, curled up on the couch, was a tear-streaked Hermione Granger.

The motionless human being shuddered slightly, but as Fred turned to get a good look at her, he noticed that she was staring blankly into space. He carefully crouched down beside her and stroked some of the curls out of her cinnamon eyes. "Hermione?" he spoke to her softly but her eyes avoided his and she let out a soft sob. Fred's heart strings pulled in odd directions at the sound as he began to inspect his fiancé with his eyes.

She was not injured or harmed in any way that he could see. "What's wrong, love?" he continued to ask in a quiet voice. Hermione did nothing but let a few more tears slide down her pale cheeks. "Please talk to me," he pleaded, caressing her wet cheek. Hermione buried her face into a cushion and remained silent. Fred let out a sigh at her response and placed his hand on the coffee table behind him to help him get up from his crouched position.

It was then that Fred discovered the truth behind his fiancé's tears:

A pregnancy test.

He and Hermione had been trying to have a baby for four months straight since she first moved into the loft above the store. Each attempt had ended in a dismal fail, something that Hermione Granger doesn't deal well with. The first negative test, she didn't shed a single tear but was twice as eager to get it the next month. The second test was a bit more frustrating, and some innocent tears fell from her brown eyes. The last test had her bawling for the better part of an hour. Fred didn't want to question how long she had been in this state for.

His heart strings pulled again as his eyes lingered over the white stick for a tad longer. He too, hadn't felt much grief on the first test, but he would admit that they were one of the longest two minutes of his life. When it came to the third try, he waited patiently outside the bathroom, not really wanting to see the evidence with his own eyes.

But here was the proof of this fail, the singular line on the white stick he was delicately holding in his hands. Hermione had peered from behind the cushion at his renounce silence. She was barely moving at all except for the silent sobs that racked her body every few minutes. Fred gently put down the white stick and turned back to the young witch. He stroked some of her curls away, whilst using the pad of his thumb to brush away some of the tears. "Hey," he said softly. "You alright?"

Hermione didn't answer verbally but gave him a slight nod and sniffle. "We'll get there, you'll see," he assured her, not knowing whether to believe his own words or not. "It's only our forth try, it can take a while sometimes."

"Why though?" came the barely audible sentence.

Fred exhaled a breath and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I don't know, love. I really don't. I wish I did, though." Hermione rose slightly and pressed her lips against his, letting Fred taste her salty tears on her mouth. He cupped her face with his hands, his fingers soon covered by hot tears that quickly fled his lover's eyes. Hermione was almost sitting up right when she pulled away and buried her head in her hands.

Fred gently tugged her hands away and hooked a finger under her chin before lightly turning her to look him in the eye. "We will get there, I promise. I will move the sun and the earth for you if it means that we can do this."

Hermione's watery eyes stared up at him. "I really want this Fred."

Fred held her close and ran his fingers through her chestnut curls. Hermione let out a shuddering breath before saying the words that Fred was not expecting…

"Marry me in four weeks."

* * *

**A/N: **_I'm a bit… I don't know what to describe the emotion as. But I had written this chapter before last… and when it came to updating… I erased this chapter deciding that I no longer liked it. I think this one was easier for flow…_

_Anyways__, it's been roughly 5 months. It's mid October now. So Hermione and Fred really haven't been trying that long – but I had to get this idea somewhere so here it is! _

_Did anyone expect Hermione to say those words at the end? Y__eah, I know that I said that it was suppose to be a "long term engagement" but obviously I now think otherwise! Nah, that's not true. But me and one other person know why I'm doing this, so the rest you will have to wait. HA!_

_Review for moi. And for um… luck?_

_Lots of Love,__  
Creative Touch_

_P.S. Totally off topic, but I never asked what people thought of Tom Felton's singing. He's pretty decent, in my opinion. And I think the lyrics are powerful – still can't believe that snake could sing and write… and play guitar, now that I think about it._

_P.P.S. A startling thought came to me earlier… I know that the "crapilogue" shows 19 years into the future but I question beyond that… I just _can't _imagine the Golden Trio being old, with the grey hair and the wrinkles… with grandkids…and for some reason that pulls at my heart strings. _


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: **I apologize for my absence. Hopefully this can make it up to you. This chapter was so difficult for me to write… because the idea sucked.

**Dedication: **_To a reviewer that stuck out the most… _oceanwaters2006, _yet another Fred/Hermione lover who's doing a bang-up job with her own ideas. _

**2****nd**** Dedication: **_to one of my most beloved reviewers, and now one of my good friends, _one_eight_, for finally replying back to me as an eighteen year old. :D_

* * *

Last time:

_Fred held her close and ran his fingers through her chestnut curls. Hermione let out a shuddering breath before saying the words that Fred was not expecting…_

"_Marry me in four weeks."_

* * *

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

**Filling in the Gap**

**Chapter 24**

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

Halloween was finally over.

And Fred couldn't help but feel a little sad that the day had come to an end. It was, after all, the best day of the year aside from his birthday. It was a little after midnight before Fred and George climbed the stairs to their shared apartment above the store, retiring after a very long day of making many wizarding children victims to their prankish ways.

It was just as they reached the door that George asked a question, "so, do you think we should make this an annual thing?" He was referring to their activities that night. The Weasley twins had turned the store into a temporary haunted house for young witches and wizards to visit during this sacred date. It was a good idea to do something for the kids that were constantly coming into their store and making their products a common household name. It was also a good chance to give a sneak preview of the pranks and items that hadn't quite made it to the market just yet, and get the children to mentally write down their Christmas lists early.

"Yeah," Fred answered back. "I think we're more than capable of doing this every year."

"I'm so glad that you're back," George replied. "I wouldn't have been bothered to do that if I didn't have someone to help me out with it."

"What about Katie?"

"Katie would try and make it as non-scary as possible, you should know that" George said. "But it was a good night wasn't it?"

Fred nodded. "I don't think the parents were too proud"

"Since were parents ever proud of our products?"

"Touché," Fred responded, pushing open the door. The pair walked in, and found that the lights had been left on for them. "That was considerate of Hermione," Fred said to George, motioning towards the lights.

"Yeah well… she must have known that I would head straight to the fridge after a night like that. Coming?"

Fred declined. "Nah, I might just go to bed. It's late."

"Right… well… night, I'll catch you in the morning," George replied before heading off in the direction of the kitchen. Fred wandered into the bedroom, expecting to see a sleeping form in the double bed, so you can expect how surprised he was to find the bed as neat as it was when he left it this morning. _Where was Hermione?_ He wondered.

George's head poked in around the door. "Oi!" he said in a harsh whisper. "You better come and see this" Curious, Fred followed his brother from the bedroom and to the dining table.

There he found his bride-to-be asleep at the table, most of her hair covering what seemed to be a seating chart. Fred debated whether or not he wanted to move her, she seemed so peaceful but also uncomfortable. George poked her shoulder gently, which Fred frowned upon. "She's out cold," commented George. "This is the… what… third time in the past week?"

Fred nodded. It was true, Hermione had been found fast asleep in various places around the loft recently, normally a pile of work in front of her. "She's pushing herself way too hard with the wedding," Fred told his twin.

"I thought mum was making the plans for the wedding?"

Fred shrugged. "You know Hermione. Probably finds it soothing or something."

George pointed at Fred accusingly. "You're fault. You agreed to get married in two weeks. No wonder your fiancé is asleep in wedding details," he picked a flower from one of the centre pieces Hermione had been trying to perfect yesterday and threw it at Fred. A groan came from the sleeping witch that gained George's attention. "Do you think we should move her? Or will she bite our heads off for taking her away from the seating arrangements?"

"I'll move her," Fred offered. "I'm heading to bed anyways"

"Look at all this," George whispered, taking the notepad that was wedged underneath Hermione's arm. He flipped through it, reading Hermione's scrawled handwriting as he went. "Caterers, ministers, dresses, guest lists and… what's this?" he flipped over the page and showed Fred a drawing of a cathedral.

Fred squinted, trying to defer the pencil sketch from the lined paper. "That's the church that Hermione's parents got married in. She showed it to me when we went to go tell her parents the date of the wedding. I think she wants us to do the same."

George cocked an eyebrow at his copy. "Have you told mum that you're not having the ceremony in the backyard like the rest of us?"

"Um…" Fred rubbed the back of his neck. "Well… _I _didn't tell her. But Hermione told her a few days ago."

"And…?"

"Well… we're not getting married in the backyard, was all that Hermione would tell me. Honestly, I don't even know what's going on with this wedding any more. Any attempt of me helping, Hermione just shoos me away."

George snorted before going through the notebook again. "Flowers, bridesmaids… whoa, hold on, what's this?" he questioned with a slight grin. "You're wearing a _blue _suit?"

"What!?" Fred exclaimed softly, grabbing the notepad from his brother.

"See there?" George tapped the line of the notepad. "The theme is blue and ivory. If she's going to be the ivory, that would mean that you're the blue," he snorted again. "Yes, yes, I can just see the colour clash of blue and red just now."

"It could have been worse," Fred replied darkly, "right?"

"Sure," George shrugged, but a playful smirk still remained on his lips. "I could always drop a hint and suggest that you could change the theme colours…" Fred looked slightly grateful at this before his twin added, "To something like ivory and _maroon_."

Fred's eyes widened before turning as mischievous as George's grin. "Oh you are so going to pay for that," he said, play-lunging at his twin. George laughed loudly as he grabbed a handful of flowers from the centrepiece and threw them at his twin. Fred, in return, threw the notepad back, which ended up colliding with George's head. The sleeping witch beside them stirred in her slumber, causing both boys to freeze in their antics.

"You should move her," George said. "A bed would be far more comfier than the table"

"Good point." Fred carefully wrapped his arms around her, and lifted her from the chair. She stirred slightly, but her deep breathings indicated that she was still fast asleep. Adjusting the way she lay in his arms, Fred bid a good night to his brother and went off to the bedroom, carrying Hermione in a bridal-style manner.

"Fred" came a moan from the brunette in his arms. Fred didn't know if she was mumbling in her sleep or not, but he proceeded to take her to the bedroom. "Fred," she moaned again. "You're home" her voice was soft as she snuggled into the warmth that was Fred's chest.

"Shh…" Fred hushed her. "Go back to sleep, love."

Hermione didn't seem to agree with him at that moment, and attempted to stretch her limbs whilst being held. "D-D-Did I fall a-asleep again?" she yawned.

"You sure did," he said, placing her on the bed. Hermione, not wanting to seem to go back to sleep straight away, sat up and rubbed her eyes. "I don't know why I'm so tired recently," she replied. She stretched her arms, in an attempt to stay awake a little longer.

"You're just overworked, as per usual," Fred told her, pulling off his shirt and revealing the muscled chest that caused Hermione's eyes to linger a little longer on her fiancé. Fred proceeded to remove his pants but noticed the brunette staring at him. "See something you like, Miss Granger?" he teased.

"Maybe," she said innocently. "How was the haunted house?"

"Brilliant" was his reply as he put on his pyjama pants. "We're thinking of making it an annual thing, what do you think?"

"I think that's a brilliant idea."

Fred grinned, climbing into his side of the bed. "And how was your night?"

Hermione gave him a sleepy smile. "Fine, I managed to fit everyone in equal numbers on the tables." She made it sound like it was the most amazing feat ever completed, even whilst she was fatigued.

"And the very idea of you doing that all night is enough to make me sleepy," Fred grinned. He moved over and placed a simple peck on her cheek. "No wonder we found you asleep at the table. Are you sure you're okay? You've been sleeping…well… everywhere this week."

"I'm fine, Fred" she assured. "Just very busy"

"You know that mum will take some of the load off you, right? And so would I"

"I'm fine, Fred. I can manage on my own." She kissed him softly. "But I love the fact the you care" she told him gently before kissing his lips again. Her hand found its way to his shoulders, the other getting lost in the mop of red hair. Fred reacted by placing both hands on her back and returning the kiss.

Fred pulled away for a moment and brushed a loose strand from her face, "I thought you were feeling tired"

"I'm never too tired for this" she grinned wickedly as they both fell into the cotton sheets of the bed.

* * *

**A/N: **_You have NO idea how hard I'm laughing right now…_

_Not at the chapter… well… sorta… but mainly at myself. I've spent the past few months trying and trying to get a chapter out, but the idea for this chapter sucked so much that it was so hard for me to put into words. _

_So… at last minute, I changed the idea, and was able to write more than I actually thought I could!!! _

_So yeah… after this long wait, I present you with this filler. Dispose of it at your will. I only did it for the idea sake, my plan and the fact that today marks exactly a year since this fic got started!! And I know you're probably thinking 'Geez CT. You could have finished it by now if you updated more regularly!' and I would probably agree with you there, but alas, that is not the way life works. _

_Update shall be up soon. I promise that. Faster than last time. In the meantime, review!!_

_Lots of Love,  
__Creative Touch_


	25. Chapter 25

**Dedication: **_To a writer who put in subliminal messages in her own fic to get me to update, _kayko15. _You little minx. _

**2****nd**** Dedication: **_After writing a chapter like this, how can I _not _give a chapter dedication to the wonderful ladies at the _Twin Exchange. _They're a riot, I love them muchly. _

* * *

Last time:

"_I'm never too tired for this" she grinned wickedly as they both fell into the cotton sheets of the bed._

* * *

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

**Filling in the Gap**

**Chapter 25**

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

Half eaten dinners, accompanied by almost empty glasses of wine, were abandoned on the tiny glass table. Candles had become nothing but a small flickering flame on a thin piece of wax, floating in pool of melted wax. Clothes had been strewn across the floor and shadows danced over the pale walls that were lit up by the moonlight and roaring fireplace.

Two figures lay in the king sized bed, the silk sheets draped around their spoon shape, their skin glistening in sweat in the moonlight. The two's breathing was slightly ragged as their heartbeat slowed down whilst they were in a tangle of limbs. "To think," Fred mumbled as he sucked on a sensitive spot on Hermione's shoulder, "this time tomorrow, we'll be doing _that_ in Paris as husband and wife."

"You obviously can't wait," Hermione replied.

Fred started placing soft butterfly kisses down her back. "I just don't understand why mum insisted that we sleep separately the night before our wedding."

"I think it has something to do with tradition," said Hermione. "Something you're meant to be a man of."

"Well every man has his limits. And I'll be dammed if my mother keeps me away from my gorgeous fiancé the night before my wedding."

"Well… you've certainly found a way around that."

"When there's a will, there's a way," Fred answered. "Not to mention, the fact that you all alone in a hotel room had my imagination in overdrive."

"Were you able to achieve your fantasies?"

"Nah," Fred said softly. "There was chocolate involved in my mind"

"You know that can be arranged."

Fred pulled Hermione closer and nibbled on her ear, "you little minx. This is exactly why nothing – not even tradition – will keep me away from you"

Hermione flipped over so that she was nose to nose with her future husband. "It's a good thing that I don't want you to keep away from me, then" she grinned before capturing his lips with her own. Fred moaned slightly as Hermione pushed herself against the muscled expanse of skin and his hands got reacquainted with her lower back. Hermione's hands got lost somewhere in the mop of red hair as his hands just kept moving lower and lower until…

A knock at the door sent the two flying apart.

"You know," Fred said. "When you said 'that can be arranged' I didn't literally think that you had arranged it."

"I didn't," Hermione whispered as there was yet another knock. The two watched the door, wondering who could be behind it.

"Hermione?" it was Ginny's voice. Hermione calmed down a bit whilst Fred groaned at the fact that his sister just interrupted the start of their love making. "Hermione? It's Ginny. Open this door."

Hermione was about to answer the female redhead when Fred clamped his hand over her mouth. "Don't say anything" he whispered. "If we stay perfectly quiet, she'll go away."

Ginny rapped on the door, with a bit more force this time. "Hermione Granger! Get your arse out here already!"

"Shh…" Fred murmured.

"C'mon Hermione, I know you're in there. Come on out," Ginny continued to whine.

"The same goes for you Fred."

"George?" Ginny questioned behind the door. "What on earth are you doing here?"

"I have reason to believe that our dear brother is in there, sister"

"What do… oh… eww."

Fred rolled his eyes as Hermione blushed a deep red. "Hermione, Fred," George yelled. "We're giving you ten minutes or we're barging in there"

"George!" Ginny scolded. "Maybe we should just leave them--"

"Gin, it's the night before their wedding. They aren't supposed to even _see _each other, let alone be shacking it up in Hermione's hotel room"

"I suppose--"

"Get out here now," George shouted outside. There was a slight pregnant pause before George added more gently, "or we'll tell mum that you two didn't keep to her wishes and spent the night before your wedding together." At these words, both Hermione and Fred scrambled out of bed. The both quickly gathered up the clothes, throwing over the ones that didn't belong to them and started to get dressed. Hermione was the first to finish getting changed as she only wore a simple black dress.

Hermione waited until her lover was mostly decent before opening the door. Within the next minute, Ginny and George stormed into the room, grabbing their intended individuals by the arm. "Merlin, can't you guys keep your hands to yourselves for one night? Your wedding night is going to suck," George commented as his brother did up the buttons of his shirt.

"I highly doubt that" Fred gave Hermione a sly wink and a grin as he did up the last few buttons of his shirt. Hermione blushed at the comment.

George groaned at the pair, "How I live with you two, I'll never understand."

"Enough of this," Ginny interrupted. She turned to the brunette, "as your maid of honour, I'm supposed to take you out and show you everything that you're going to miss now that you're marrying my git of a brother."

"Hey!" Fred interjected.

Ginny ignored him. "And George is Fred's best man, and therefore is his duty to take him out before you start nagging him every day for the rest of his life."

"I don--"

Ginny cut Hermione off, "honey, it's meant to be. Now you two are coming with us whether you like it or not. And we shall meet up tomorrow at the cathedral." Before either Hermione or Fred could protest against Ginny, both she and George apparated their intended to an unknown place for a night that was to end all nights.

* * *

**A/N: **_Truth behind this very lame chapter is: I wanted to have a filler before the next chapter._

_Which is… (drum roll)…_

_THE WEDDING!_

_Haha, bout time I got around to the wedding. I just wished I had updated this story long before Christmas because now I'm too obsessed with my Christmas presents to even consider coming to the computer, let alone write and update!! _

_But I will try, don't you worry. I will try._

_I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas and I will see you all in the New Year (don't fear, it's less than a week away). _

_Lots of Love,  
__Creative Touch_

_  
P.S. I have MySpace, for all those who randomly want to add me. Look up my homepage. _


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: **I present to you, the very first chapter of 2009. And as a treat, it's extra long. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

**Dedication: **_After all the review cookies I've eaten… I gotta give this out to _kayko15_, as well as _Fred & George_. Damn you guys, I'm fat now!! _

_On the positive side, I got a wii and wii fit for Christmas :P_

* * *

Last time:

… "… _Now you two are coming with us whether you like it or not. And we shall meet up tomorrow at the cathedral." Before either Hermione or Fred could protest against Ginny, both she and George apparated their intended to an unknown place for a night that was to end all nights._

* * *

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

**Filling in the Gap**

**Chapter 26**

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

In the warmth of a hotel room, a few females applied the finishing touches to their make-up, commending each other on choices of shades. But one woman was not admiring herself in the mirror… at least, not yet. A vision in white appeared in the room, and the girls turned around in awe when it was reflected in the mirror they crowded around.

"Oh, Hermione" Ginny exclaimed, turning around to see her best friend. "You look so gorgeous." A vague tinge of pink appeared in Hermione's cheeks at the statement as she glided over to the other women and peered at herself in the mirror. Her usual bushy hair had been sleeked back into an elegant bun, and her ivory white dress made her skin look even more bronze than usual. "In a couple of hours, we'll be sisters-in-law!"

"I can't believe this is finally happening," said Hermione breathlessly, sitting down on the stool in front of the mirror. "This is actually happening."

"You've waited a long time for this, darling," her mother sighed happily, carefully putting in place the veil into the masterpiece of hair. "Enjoy the moment."

"Speaking of enjoying the moment… how about we open this bottle of champagne!?" Ginny squealed, popping the cork out of the bottle and summoning some tall glasses as the other girls crowded around.

Hermione shook her head when the champagne was forcefully put into her hands, "no thanks."

"Oh c'mon Hermione," Ginny playfully nudged the bride. "A toast! To Hermione! Who will shortly become married to the most childish man on the planet!" she raised her glass and the rest of the room followed suit. "Drink up, Hermione. If it's any consolation, it's a great way of killing the nerves."

"No I'm fine thanks," Hermione insisted as the redheaded witch downed her glass. "And I don't want you to have any more than that one glass. I'm not having you drunk at my wedding."

"Oh c'mon Hermione," Ginny whined. "We drank through almost three bottles before my wedding."

Hermione raised her eyebrows at her and pointed out, "you drank two by yourself, and almost stumbled down that aisle drunk if I hadn't forced a potion down your throat."

"You can't honestly tell me that you're not nervous"

Hermione barked out a laugh, "of course I'm nervous. I'm terrified. I'm about to marry your brother."

"Hmm… yes," Ginny replied. "That _is_ very terrifying."

"That's not what I meant," she rolled her eyes at her best friend. "I'm scared that this may not be real. That I'm gonna wake up and Fred never came back or something. I'm so scared that something's going to go wrong."

Ginny put down her empty glass on the dresser and placed her hands on the silk sleeves of Hermione's dress. "Nothing is going to go wrong. I thought the same thing when I married Harry and look where we are now," she pointed to the sleeping infant in the carrier. "Stop worrying about what could happen. None of it will ever come true anyways, and you know it. Now," Ginny picked up Hermione's hands, which were still wrapped around the tall glass. "Drink: Where's the fun of a wedding if there's no alcohol involved?"

"She had plenty last night," Katie interjected into the conversation. "I came to collect her this morning, and found her slumped over the toilet. I had to wait another half an hour until she finished puking up everything."

Ginny's eyes widened as she turned to her best friend, who was looking at the ground sheepishly. "You drank _that _much?" she asked incredulously. "I barely saw you drink anything last night."

"That's because you were wasted as well," Katie told her, taking the glass from Hermione's hands and taking a sip from it. "We all were, now that I think about it." The girls laughed as they reminisced about the previous night. Naturally, Ginny had taken Hermione to a local club for her bachelorette party, and of course, there was a fair share of drinking and dancing. Hermione had almost killed Ginny when strippers dressed as cops became the main attraction of the night. Hermione only hoped that George wasn't thinking along the same lines as Ginny for Fred's bachelor party… but knowing him, she expected that Fred had a similar night to what she had… with a few differences.

Hermione was so lost in memories of last night that she hadn't noticed that she had stood up and was now slowly twirling for the other girls to admire. Some of the girls were gently running the silk material between their fingers, making sure that everything on Hermione was as perfect as perfection could get.

Mrs. Weasley came bustling into the room, carrying a fresh bunch of enchanted blue tulips. "Oh Hermione," she whispered, looking at the brunette witch up and down. She looked back up at her face and smiled, "you look so radiant. Fred's a lucky man."

"Thanks," she replied meekly, accepting her bouquet of tulips. She could have sworn that she saw her future mother-in-law wink at her as the flowers were transferred.

"Let's go ladies," Hermione's mother declared before Hermione could question Mrs. Weasley. "We'll miss the ceremony if we don't leave now." All the girls squealed, grabbing their handbags and quickly stashing the various types of make-up into them.

Ginny linked her arm with the bride's and gushed, "Smile Hermione. You're about to be married!"

Hermione gave her a weak smile as a knot in her stomach tightened. _Nothing is going to go wrong_, she assured herself. _Absolutely nothing…_

**X ****-- X**

Fred bit his lip, as his heart sped up and droplets of sweat appeared on his forehead. He tried to stand tall and calm even though fear was reaping throughout his body. His eyes were glued to the entrance of the chapel, where several guests were filing in. His full attention was on those doors.

"Whoa," George placed a hand on his shoulder, startling the groom. "You look so terrified, people would think you're about to abandon Hermione at the alter."

Fred frowned at his twin. "I wouldn't do that."

"I'm just saying, you look petrified. What's wrong? If it's not cold feet then what?"

"Just take a look for yourself," Fred muttered, jerking his thumb in the direction of the guests. George scanned the audience of the wedding, but had no idea what he was looking for. Fred leaned in and muttered in a harsh tone, "leaning against the back wall". George scanned the crowd once again, his eyes specifically directed at the back wall. Fred watched as his twin's eyes widen with shock as he spotted a certain person...

Ronald Weasley.

"What the _hell_ is he doing here?" Fred hissed out between clenched teeth.

George eyed him carefully. "I'm guessing that he didn't make the guest list."

"Of course not" Fred snorted. "After what he did to Hermione? What gives him the right to be at our wedding? What does he think he's doing, showing up now out of all times? Merlin, I want to kill him."

Fred barely took one step before George grabbed his arm, "I can't let you do that."

"Why not?" he questioned harshly.

"Hermione would be less than appreciative if she walked down the aisle to see you with a black eye."

"Not if I give him one first."

George tightened his grip on his brother. "What do you think Hermione's going to say when a brawl starts before the wedding even starts?"

Fred tugged his arm away from his twin. "You don't expect me to do nothing, do you?" he muttered incredulously.

"You must," George pressed.

"Are we talking about Ron being here?" a new voice came. George and Fred spun around to find Harry watching the both of them very closely. "So, is it Ron that's getting you so worked up? Or are you planning on bailing on my best friend? Though, I will have to kill you if that is the case."

"Fred wants to go and break Ron's nose," George explained. Fred growled at the name. "I told him that Hermione won't be pleased"

Harry agreed, "That's true." Harry crossed his arms over his chest before saying, "I could go talk to him if you want."

"I think that's a good idea…"

"Kick him out," Fred spat. "Don't _talk _to him. Just kick him out. I don't want Hermione to see him."

Even though danger flickered across Fred's eyes, Harry attempted to reason. "He might have a good reason to why he's here…"

"Kick him out before I kick his arse." His knuckles cracked as he balled his hand into a fist and turned his sight away from the doors. George was about to retort when Harry shook his head and gave the older twin an 'it's-okay' look. George shrugged helplessly as he gazed out over the audience to watch his brother-in-law deal with his brother. Fred also peaked over his shoulder to see that Harry was already striding down the aisle, eyes glued to his target.

Fred watched as Harry asked Ron to leave the cathedral. Ron seemed to be quite reluctant to leave as there seemed to be a hushed argument between the two former best friends. Harry grabbed Ron's arm and pushed him in the direction of the door. The youngest Weasley male looked from Harry to lock eyes with Fred for a few moments before disappearing out the doors. Fred noticed the boy-who-lived thrust his wand into his pocket, and assumed that the green-eyed wizard had made a threat against his younger brother.

"Maybe I should go down there and punch Ron for good measure," Fred suggested.

"No, c'mon. Look at me," George said, grabbing his brother's shoulders and forcefully turning him away from looking at the doors. Fred obliged to his one-eared copy's request. "Take a deep breath. Calm down. Ron's gone, so nothing is going to stop you from marrying Hermione today. Just breathe and remember what it is you're doing today"

George was right: he had to calm down. He couldn't be freaking out on the day that would soon be the greatest day of his life. It was so feminie to panic over a ruined wedding. But still, he couldn't help but wonder why Ron had showed up, with no invite? How on earth had he known the date and place? Fred frowned at this thought, but quickly turned it into a weak smile when he noticed his twin's eyes watch him.

"You know," Fred started, changing the topic to get Ron out of his mind. "I'm glad that Hermione decided on ivory and blue. _You _look good in a blue suit."

George laughed lightly and playfully punched Fred in the arm. "I can pull anything off, even the colour blue" he stuck his tongue out. Fred laughed at how ironic things turned out to be. Sure, the theme of the wedding was ivory and blue, but what George didn't intend on happening was that it was indeed the bridesmaids and the groomsmen who had to wear blue… _not _the bride and groom themselves. Fred wore black dress robes, and there wasn't a doubt in his mind that Hermione was going to be wearing the traditional ivory white dress.

A slight jolt of nerves ran through Fred as he remembered that today would be the day that will change is life. Hermione Granger was going to be his wife after all this. And he couldn't ask for anything more. The autumn season had even managed to produce an eyeful of sunshine for the day, and Fred took it as a good omen. He didn't have to look like a fool in blue when he got to call Hermione forever his, and Ron was no longer in the room – definitely good omens.

Without any warning, music started playing. Not just any music. The bridal march.

Guests got onto their feet as Fred stood tall and eager to see Hermione. First came Teddy and Victoire being the ring bearer and flower girl. Teddy did not look like he approved of being dressed up and being forced to walk in front of all these people in his little tux. Following the children were the bridesmaids, in their midnight blue gowns. Fred could see in the corner of his eye, George grin slyly as Katie walked down the aisle in her bridesmaid's dress. He could have almost laughed if his eyes didn't spot the next person.

Fred felt his breath being taken away from him as he watched the stunning creature that he would soon call his wife walk down the aisle. Her eyes met up with his, and she gave him the most brilliant smile that he had ever seen. Everything about her seemed to glow; she was absolutely radiant under the dim light. Fred grinned widely as she looked at him with her big doe eyes, swimming with mirth. George leaned in and muttered harshly, "breathe". Fred hadn't even noticed that he had stopped breathing… or more that he had forgotten to breathe at the sight of his bride.

Fred felt all anger and fear of Ron being there earlier vanish as he watched Hermione walk gracefully, her arm gripping lightly to her father. Fred began to walk down to meet them at the bottom of the podium. Reaching the podium, Hermione let go of her father's arm and gave him a kiss on the cheek as she was 'given away' to the man who would soon become her husband. Fred took her hand and whispered softly, "you look beautiful". Hermione blushed a flattering colour of pink as she carefully walked up to the minister, who was smiling down on the two.

The minister cleared his voice before speaking. "Today, we are gathered here to witness the bonding between Mr. Fred Weasley and Miss Hermione Granger." Fred turned his head slightly in the direction of his bride, and gave her a smile and squeezed her hand comfortingly. Hermione only just managed a smile in return, and was grateful for the hand squeeze. Her heart pounded against her ribcage and fear of something going wrong was now almost too much to bear.

"Now, before we may continue," the minister spoke to the guests. "Are there any objections to why this couple should not be married?" Hermione held her breath and closed her eyes tight, begging that no-one should stand up and object. But much to her joy, no-one did.

The minister smiled. "Do you, Fredrick Gideon Weasley, take thee, Hermione Jean Gran--?"

Many guests jumped as a harsh scream came from the back of the church, echoing off the walls:

"Stop this wedding!!"

* * *

**A/N: **_GASP!!_

_That's right: an interruption! But the question is who dares try to interrupt this wedding!? I actually know, and I think some of you can suspect who it is… or maybe not. My evil mind likes to do this to you a lot. _

_I know I said that I was excited last chapter… but this is the reason why I was excited. I'm excited to bring out the drama in the story. Never would have seen that __coming did you? _

_So yeah, review because I want to see how many people can actually guess correctly. Total shout outs if you can!!_

_Lots of Love,  
Creative Touch_

_P.S. I was given the most beautiful fic for Christmas. I just need to share the love. _Presents and Love_ is a really sweet Fremione oneshot that I just adore (not just because it was written for me!) and I highly suggest you read it. (take out spaces)_

**www. fanfiction. net/s/4734451/1/Presents_and_Love.**


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N: **I had to make you guys wait a teensy bit longer for this chapter. Why? Well… I just had to get you all riled up and curious. I needed to hear what you guys thought. So I patiently listened to your views… too bad none of you were right –evil grin-

* * *

Last time:

"_Now, before we may continue," the minister spoke to the guests. "Are there any objections to why this couple should not be married?" Hermione held her breath and closed her eyes tight, begging that no-one should stand up and object. But much to her joy, no-one did._

_The __minister smiled. "Do you, Fredrick Gideon Weasley, take thee, Hermione Jean Gran--?"_

_Many guests jumped as a harsh scream came from the back of the church, echoing off the walls:_

"_Stop this wedding!!"_

* * *

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

**Filling in the Gap**

**Chapter 27**

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

Hermione gasped, along with everyone else and turned to glimpse the person who had spoken. A young woman was now striding down the aisle, her blonde hair flying behind and she wore a fixed look of determination upon her face. She felt Fred's nails sink into her skin as his grip tightened around her hand.

"Please continue," Fred addressed the minister through gritted teeth.

"I cannot, not until the reasons why this marriage cannot proceed have been spoken," the minister said calmly, turning his attention to the woman who now stood behind Fred. Hermione's eyes darted back and forth from Fred to the blonde. The unknown witch stared at Hermione with muddy brown eyes and narrowed them, reminding Hermione of a tiger ready to strike. She then sneered and looked back at Fred.

"Fred is already married," she announced. "To me." The blonde woman held up her left hand where a wedding ring sparkled on her ring finger.

The words cut through Hermione like a knife. Her hand fell to her side as Fred released his grip on her. Hermione's eyes fell onto the man next to her, only to find that his head hug low and his eyes were clenched shut. She struggled to stay on her feet as Fred whipped around and immediately went into argue mode with the woman. Harry rushed over to Hermione, gripping one of her arms to steady her as she looked - and felt - so faint.

"What the hell are you doing here, Candice? I told you I never wanted to see you again," Fred growled.

The blonde sneered at him, "don't you think that's kinda harsh, _husband_?"

"I'm _not _your husband!" Fred spat in her face. "I divorced you, remember?!"

"And I told you that I never officialized our divorce, remember?" she mocked him. Fred's eyes glazed over with a murderous glare, his jaw tightened. Hermione's head was spinning and an unwanted feeling bubbled at the pit of stomach, threatening to cause her to hurl in front of all these people. "Cat got your tongue, husband?" the blonde cackled.

"Fred," George said, remarkably calm. "Fred, what's going on?"

Fred inhaled a deep breath and clamped his eyes shut. "This is Candice," he paused before adding bitterly, "my _wife_." Immediately the whole church erupted in minute gasps and shallow whispering. Hermione felt Harry's hand squeeze her arm slightly, but she was feeling so dizzy she wasn't quite sure what it was she just heard. Fred looked at the blonde witch, anger clearly expressed across his face, "Why are you doing this to me, Candice? I made it clear that I want no take in our marriage."

Candice shrugged, "it doesn't mean that _I_ don't want any take in our marriage, Fred Weasley." She looked at her freshly manicured nails before flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder. "But you already knew that didn't you?"

Hermione was trying very hard not to heave that moment when Harry intervened, "what is she on about Fred?"

Fred ignored him and focused on the young woman in front of him. "What is your problem Candice? Why are you doing this? Just file the damn paperwork and get over it!"

"I would but you won't give me any money for a divorce!" Candice shot back.

Fred let out a hollow laugh, "why should I give you money? You made me believe that you were pregnant… with my child, may I add. You forced me into a marriage that I didn't want to be apart of. You made me run away from my family and live five years away from them. And, not to mention, the fact that you lied to me. Where in all of that is a reason for me to give you money?"

"How about the reason where I stated I would come after you and make life hell for you? You know, when I wrote to you about this whole situation?"

Hermione stared at the woman. So this was her. The woman who took Fred away so many years ago. The woman who forced him to disappear for over five years. This woman had lied to her… and frankly, so had Fred. She looked over said redhead and a strange anger bubbled within her chest. A strangle cry got caught in her throat as the thought that the two dishonest people would be better off together.

Hermione looked at Fred with accusing eyes before slapping him right across the face. "How could you do this to me!?"

Fred blinked at her, surprised at her hasty entrance into the argument. "Hermione, I-I…"

"Why the hell did you propose to me knowing you still had a wife?" she demanded, her fists clenched.

"Because I don't want to be with _her_. I want to be with you!" Fred replied

"And you couldn't tell me that you _still _had a _wife_?"

"Hermione, I didn't know she hadn't sent the files until about two weeks ago"

"You could have told me! You could have avoided this," she motioned to the whole room. "But, _no_, you had to try and attempt bigamy. You could, and should, go to prison for that." A wall of water was starting to build up behind her eyes, but she refused to seem weak.

Fred looked about on the verge of tears himself. "Please Hermione," he begged softly. "I didn't mean for this to happen. I want to be with you."

"And _I_ want to be with _you_... or at least, I _did_!" Hermione bawled, pushing him aside and striding past him down the aisle. Harry rushed after his best friend, grabbing her arm and trying to provide her little comfort in this whole ordeal. Fred also followed her and attempted to reason but Hermione shoved him the chest and screamed at him to leave her alone.

"Hermione please! We can work things out! I can give Candice the money for a divorce and we can be together like we wanted!" Fred pleaded, speaking the first things that came to his mind. He fell to his knees and tried again, "Hermione! Come back, please... come back to me! I'm so sorry, I'll do anything!"

Tears were falling freely from her eyes as she turned back to look at him. "I can't be with you Fred. Not anymore. You lied to me and about something this huge. I don't think I can trust you anymore." Fred hung his head when he caught Harry glaring at him, which Fred couldn't blame his brother-in-law from doing. He felt absolutely retched over the situation. He could have dealt with Candice a bit better than he had, and now he was loosing the woman he loved the most. "Oh and I think you should know" Hermione muttered, causing him to look her in the eye. "I'm pregnant."

Fred's eyes widened at her words, as Harry let go of Hermione's arm in shock. "You son of a bitch!" Harry growled, swinging a closed fist that ended up smashing against Fred's jaw, to which Hermione yelled out Harry's name in shock and protest. "You stay away from her, you hear me?" Hermione grabbed Harry's arm to stop him from beating her _ex-_lover to a bloody pulp.

Tears finally emerged from Fred's eyes, in either defeat or the pain from his jaw. "Hermione…"

"He's right," she whispered. "Just stay away from me."

And with that, Hermione ran from the church and headed for the gate. She ripped the veil from her hair and threw it to the ground, trampling over it as she ran. She was sobbing so hard that she hardly noticed where she was going as her tears were blurring her vision…

* * *

**A/N: **_La la la…_ -puts on helmet before people start throwing things-

_Okkay! Admit it. You never would have thought that Fred's ex would show up. ADMIT DEFEAT! I had you outsmarted for once. That will teach you to take away my cliffhangers. _

_Okay, true that this is a cruel punishment for sussing me out before I got a chance to even make you really think. But, it had to happen. Why did it have to happen? Because it wouldn't be a Weasley wedding without drama, no? Okay, lame excuse. It had to happen because I've been waiting for this to happen for a very long time. You'll be amazed what I'll do with this situation, hopefully._

_So _what_ do you think _will happen next? _Will Hermione ever forgive Fred? Will they get the wedding they've dreamed of? Will Candice get her money and back off? And what will happen to Hermione's baby? – Honestly, did you expect her to say those words?_

_Tell me your theories via review. Whoever can roughly guess what I have installed, or can supply something better will get a chapter dedication!! And many, many review cookies!_

_Please review. Last few chapters haven't been as popular as I would have liked._

_Infinite X's and O's,  
__Creative Touch _


	28. Chapter 28

**Dedication: **Once again, to the magnificent kayko15… for getting one and a half theories right.

**A/N: **Just wanted to say quickly hi to a new anonymous reviewer, Abbie. Thanks for the review, means so much to me. :D

Also, my thoughts and prayers go out to those in Australia who are in the middle of either the floods or fires. I pray for your safety.

* * *

Last time:

"_He's right," she whispered. "Just stay away from me." _

_And with that, Hermione ran from the church and headed for the gate. She ripped the veil from her hair and threw it to the ground, trampling over it as she ran. She was sobbing so hard that she hardly noticed where she was going as her tears were blurring her vision…

* * *

  
_

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

**Filling in the Gap**

**Chapter 28**

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

The acidic taste burned the back of her throat as she brought her head back up and took deep breaths. She pushed her hair back so that it didn't go anywhere near her mouth at this point in time. Her breaths got deeper as she tried to ignore her pounding headache and the nausea that was trying to climb back up from her stomach. She leaned back against the wall, stretching out her legs that had been hiding underneath her. She heard the door open and the soft padding of bare feet on the cold tile floor.

She knew it was her mother.

"How are you feeling today, love?" her mother asked her sweetly. Hermione groaned her response, shutting her eyes at the same moment. "I know, I know," her mother coaxed. "Morning sickness isn't fun at all."

Hermione inhaled, "it's like it gets worse every day."

"I'm surprised you managed to throw up that much considering that you've barely eaten in a week." There was a slight scolding undertone in her mother's voice, but Hermione chose to ignore it. True, she hadn't been eating a lot recently, which is probably isn't healthy for either her or the baby. But she just didn't have the motive to eat these days.

It had been almost 10 days since the wedding, and since that fateful day, Hermione had hidden out at her parents' house. The further away she could get away from the wizarding world, the better; in her opinion. The first few days were the hardest: she had to come to terms with everything that happened. Come to terms with the fact that Fred was still legally married to another woman. To come to terms with carrying a baby that would most likely have no father. Fred would want to be apart of his child's life, but she didn't know if she had the courage to let him near her at this time, let alone their child.

As the days grew longer, Hermione's appetite shrunk. There were days were she would just sleep all day because she just felt that tired all the time. And she didn't think it was because of the pregnancy. Trays of food had gone untouched, cups of tea gone cold in front of her. Her mother was right: it was a wonder how there was even anything in Hermione's stomach any more.

"How is my little girl this morning?" came a baritone voice. "Not so well, I see." The smell of her father's cologne reached Hermione's nose and immediately her eyes snapped open as she grabbed the edge of the porcelain toilet and repeatedly vomited into it.

Her mother snapped "David!"

"What? I was just seeing, for our guest--"

"Dad!" Hermione choked, head still bowed. "Leave, please!" Her father didn't need to be told twice as the scent slowly died and a pair of footsteps were echoed down the hallway. Hermione's mother pressed a moist towel against her daughter's already sweaty forehead as Hermione rested her chin on the toilet seat. "Does it get any better?" she asked.

"Not for a while."

"Great," she muttered sarcastically. Her mother offered her a cup of cold water, which Hermione took and thanked her for graciously. Taking a rather large gulp, Hermione questioned her mother, "Mum, did dad say we had a guest?"

"Hmm? Oh yes we do," she pushed back her daughter's hair. Hermione gave her mother a look. "You should come down soon."

"Why?"

Her mother was quite hesitant to answer. "You have a male suitor" her mother told her gently. "He's waiting downstairs for you"

"Mum," Hermione moaned. "I really don't feel like seeing Harry right now--"

Her mother shook her head. "It's not Harry, dear." Hermione gave her a quizzical look. "You have a redheaded suitor."

Hermione's eyes widened. "I-I don't want to see Fred," she quickly replied.

"It's not Fred either. Or his twin," she added when Hermione open her mouth to speak again.

Confused, Hermione shook her head. "Either way, I don't want to see anyone at the moment."

"You'll want to talk to him, Hermione," her mother assured her. "Just come down and say hello. He's patiently waited for you for almost two hours now."

"Alright then," she mumbled. "I think I'm finished anyways." Hermione collected herself from her position on the bathroom floor and followed her mother downstairs.

Hermione froze when she reached the bottom of the stairs. There he stood, looking completely calm about being in her parent's house. He was talking to her dad, his red hair falling delicately in his eyes. He politely let out a laugh at her father's poor excuse of a joke before turning in her direction. She felt herself glued to the spot as his eyes looked at her with amazement and his lips slipped into a gentle grin. His blue eyes sparked under the light and she was able to see the outlines of muscles underneath his shirt. Her mouth went dry with shock and she had to gulp before saying his name. For there, standing right before her was…

"Ron," she gasped. "W-w-what are you doing here?" she stuttered.

Ron chuckled slightly, "it's good to see you too, 'Mione"

"Um…" she bit her lip. "No offence or anything, but seriously, what are you doing here?"

Ron's eyes darted from her to her parents. "Err…" his eyes landed on her again. "Is there somewhere we can speak privately?"

Hermione looked at her parents, who were trying hard not to look at either of the two for a long time. She didn't really want to see anyone, let alone a Weasley. Let alone Ron. She didn't really want to answer him but she found herself saying, "Follow me, we can go outside." Ron smiled as he followed her across the room and outside to the backyard. She shut the door behind them and looked around just in case there was someone listening in.

She leaned on the railing of the small patio that they were standing on. Ron did the same, his eyes never leaving her. They stayed this way, in complete silence for what seemed to be an eternity.

Ron was the first to speak, "so… how… how are you?" he asked.

Hermione looked at him incredulously. "Spectacular," she drawled. "My wedding was ruined. I am now neither married nor in a relationship. And I'm pregnant and I don't know whether or not I want the father in my child's life. Yep, things are definitely bright for me."

Ron's eyes were soon filled with pity and concern. He sucked in a breath, "so it's true then? You're pregnant?"

Hermione nodded. Her voice became softer when she answered him, "I have a real trick getting pregnant at the worst times, don't I?"

He bowed his head. "Do you think… that is… do you think that… if we… did keep the baby… we'd still be together?"

"Ron," she shook her head. "Let's not go back into this. It was almost three years ago." Ron nodded in understanding. "Just tell me, what are you doing here?"

"I came to talk to you."

"About…?"

"About…" he exhaled. "About Fred."

Hermione groaned and her eyes narrowed. "If you've come to do his bidding and beg for forgiveness for him, then you can show yourself out," she snapped, turning on her heel. She felt a strong hand grab her arm.

"Hermione, it wasn't his fault what happened."

Hermione turned and advanced on him. "Like hell it wasn't. He lied to me. He tried to attempt bigamy. And who the _hell _are you to tell me it wasn't his fault? Last time I checked you two were in a fight."

"I guess we still are," Ron shrugged. "But could you blame him for not telling you? And as far as he knew, his divorce was legal. And it is… it always was."

Hermione blinked at him. "I don't follow you."

Ron ran a hand through his shaggy red hair. "Did you hear that the ministry was broken into?" he questioned her.

"No," Hermione said slowly, thrown off by the sudden question.

"Yeah, it was a few days before your wedding. I was asked to take a look at the crime," he explained. "It seems that the ministry's files were gone through by the culprit. But every file was accounted for except…" he trailed off.

"Fred's divorce file," she finished for him.

"Candice stole it from the ministry in an attempt to ruin Fred's life like how she claims he ruined hers but divorcing her. She read the announcement of your engagement and wedding in the _Daily Prophet _and she craved revenge. I'm sorry that we didn't catch her in time before she did any damage."

Hermione was speechless. "W-Wh… How do you know this?"

"A few days ago, we were able to locate her. We had her under Veritaserum, and she admitted the whole thing," Ron said. "She's going to court next week for trespassing on ministry property."

So Fred was innocent in all this, after all. Hermione's heart rose as she accepted all this new information. But one thing didn't click, "why didn't you tell me this before?"

"Harry threw me out of the wedding before I got a chance to." Hermione's eyebrows shot up. "I'm pretty sure Fred told him to kick me out." Hermione bit her lip as Ron took a step towards her and took her hands. The gesture sent a strange form of electricity up Hermione's arm and through her body. "'Mione, I want you to be happy. I just wish you were happy when you were with me."

"I was Ron," she admitted. "I was happy for a few years. Happy… but not in love." She fumbled with the words in her mouth. "I still love Fred."

The corners of his mouth descended slightly into a frown and hurt was very clear in his blue eyes. "Thought so," he breathed. He rubbed his thumb back and forth across Hermione's hand. "You have to take him back, Hermione," he told her in a strangled voice. "If it cuts him as deep as it cut me when you left me, then he would do anything to have you back. That kind of emotion can kill a person."

Hermione looked up from his hand wrapped around hers and stared at him. "Thank you Ron. For everything." She reached up to give him a peck on his cheek but at the same time, he turned his head and her lips landed upon his. It was so sudden, but the human contact on her lips had her stunned as their kiss unintentionally deepened. Hermione closed her eyes as she momentarily forgotten where she was, and who it was she was kissing. The love for Hermione bubbled within Ron as his chapped lips moved against her soft ones. It wasn't until Ron's hands tightened around her own that Hermione realised what it was she was doing.

Hermione's eyes flew open and she quickly pulled away. Ron looked at her sheepishly and mumbled, "Sorry" as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Got a bit carried away"

"I should have known," came a new voice. The pair turned to see Fred standing at the door, roses in hand. Fred was red in the face and threw the roses on the ground. "And here I was hoping that you would forgive me."

Hermione's eyes were wide as saucers as she choked out his name. "Fred… this isn't…"

"What it looks like?" he finished for her, his eyes tightening on the pair. "Because it kinda looked like that you were kissing my brother. If you two weren't just lip locking, then I would love to hear what you were doing." Hermione bit her lip and the two accused fumbled trying to get the truth out. When neither of the two could provide Fred a reasonable answer, he hissed bitterly, "I thought so. Well… I hope you two have a happy life together." He turned and quickly stormed away before either of the two could say anything.

"Fred!" she called after him, but he obviously couldn't hear her. "Shit."

* * *

**A/N: **_-_quickly assembles fort and straps self to body guard-

_Don't be angry with me, I mean no harm. _

_So what is to happen next? I do happen to know vaguely. Hopefully I can nail everything I need to get next chapter, but I would love to hear your theories_

_Plus, did you ever think that Ron would turn out to be such a good guy?_

_Anyways, review as always. I'm going to need all the support I can get, because believe it or not: school has resurrected once again and I'm finding myself with very little spare time. But for you, I will try to update really soon._

_Lots of Love,  
Creative Touch_

_xxx_

_P.S. Did you notice that this is Hermione's 3__rd__ pregnancy?_


	29. Chapter 29

**1st A/N: **GUESS WHOSE BIRTHDAY IT IS?? –points to self- I'm 16 tomorrow, everyone! Isn't that fantastic?

**Dedication: **_To my lovely and beautiful, _one­_eight_, to whom encouraged me every day until I got this chapter out._

**2nd A/N: **I redid the ending of the last chapter. I felt that because of all the pressure of getting it out and the rush made it sound kinda sudden. So, I rewrote it to my satisfaction. The outcome is still the same; it's just in a bit more detail.

* * *

Last time:

_"What it looks like?" he finished for her, his eyes tightening on the pair. "Because it kinda looked like that you were kissing my brother. If you two weren't just lip locking, then I would love to hear what you were doing." Hermione bit her lip and the two accused fumbled trying to get the truth out. When neither of the two could provide Fred a reasonable answer, he hissed bitterly, "I thought so. Well… I hope you two have a happy life together." He turned and quickly stormed away before either of the two could say anything._

_"Fred!" she called after him, but he obviously couldn't hear her. "Shit."

* * *

_

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

**Filling in the Gap**

**Chapter 29**

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

George was talking to a customer, on the verge of convincing a mother that the Beginner Prankster's Kit was the perfect gift for her seven year old son. She had been a tough customer to crack, she wasn't even one-tenth of a fan of their store as her son was – in fact, the first thing she had told him was that she thought that their shop was pointless and reckless.

It had been a rough hour, trying to persuade her that their products were not a waste of time and money. But he finally achieved what seemed to be an impossible task, and he felt rather proud and satisfied within the moment. Naturally, that emotion went straight out that window when Fred came storming back into the store.

Fred, blinded by his anger, pretty much ran straight into the female customer. He continued to stalk off with no apology, his knuckles cracking as he curled them into fists. "Well I never," the woman sniffed at George. "I don't see why my son idolises you and your brother so much. I will not tolerate it if my son grows up to be that rude." And with that, and a flick of her robes, the customer walked straight out of the store.

George fumed. There went an hour of his life. His gaze went straight to the staircase where Fred was stomping up to the loft. He raced after his copy and grabbed his arm. "What the bloody hell is your problem!?"

Fred turned around and gave his twin a dark glare and muttered bitterly, "leave me alone."

"No way," George challenged. "You just lost us a valuable customer. I want to know what's got your wand in a knot."

The younger twin just scowled. "I don't really want to talk about it." He attempted to leave again but his brother grabbed his arm once more.

"Fred, what's going on?" When Fred didn't answer, George pushed on. "Did something happen when you went to see Hermione?"

Fred exhaled a breath, "she's moved on."

"Moved on?" George echoed.

"She was with Ron" he told him.

"Wh-wh... what do you mean "she was with Ron"?"

"She was with Ron," Fred repeated. "He was at her parent's house. They were kissing. She's moved on... she's gone back to him."

George looked flabbergasted as he attempted to reason with his frustrated brother. "Maybe it isn't what it looked like... maybe..."

"Maybe she was giving him mouth-to-mouth standing up?" Fred shot back. "Or that she had to suck some venom from his lips? I'm telling you, they were snogging on that porch like there was no tomorrow." Okay, that was a little exaggerated Fred admitted to himself but he wasn't going to let George know that. He was the victim of a cruel heartbreak.

"Look, maybe we should talk about this," George said. "There has to be some logical explanation for this. Maybe we should--"

"Mr. Weasley," Verity called out from around the corner. "We've run out of Biting Biscuits, and we need help with the register – it's jammed once again."

George groaned and looked his copy in the eye. "I have to go deal with this. But we'll talk later, alright?"

Fred leaned against the wall as he watched his brother cross the room and enter the storage room. George must have gone mental if he thought that he could get Fred to talk...

Talking was the last thing Fred wanted to do...

**X -- X**

Harry Potter came home from work early that day for one reason: to comfort his best friend in her time of need. He hadn't spoken to Hermione since the wedding, for he understood that she needed her space, she needed to be alone. But it had been ten days and his concern for her was ever growing, especially when he tried to talk to her straight after the horrific event, only to have her shut him out.

But today was supposed to be different. Today he was going to go over to her parent's house and not take 'no' for an answer. He needed to make sure that she was alright, that she was going to be alright. Hermione was very good at hiding emotion, but after years of being in her presence, he learnt some hidden qualities that viewed her true feelings.

For instance, the twirling of her curls with her finger when she was worried or nervous. Something he noticed as she studied the night before her NEWT exams. Or the way she bit her lip when she hadn't quite said the full truth – a fact he learnt when he questioned her for the real reason why Ginny was sick every morning. Or how she would avoid eye contact after she had cried... but only in times in great sorrow.

He was not prepared, however, for her scared and guilty expression she presented him when she showed up on his doorstep, wearing a trench coat over her pyjamas. She was absolutely hysterical when Harry pulled her into a hug. He instantly knew that she must have seen Fred, and something terrible must have happened with them... but not for the reasons he thought...

"Harry!" Hermione clicked her fingers in front of his face. He snapped out of his thoughts and stared straight into the brown eyes that were boring into him. "Were you even paying attention?"

He heaved a sigh, "Hermione... I don't really see a reason for us to go after him."

"Did you not hear me say all that stuff about Candice?" she said with an agitated look.

"He still lied to you. He didn't handle the situation at all and..."

Hermione grabbed his hands desperately. "I know he isn't your favourite person at the moment, but I need to find him. I need to talk to him. Please, I need your help."

Harry groaned. She had to say those four words. Those always got to him – damn his reputation. He ran a hand over his face, "I can't promise I won't punch him again when I see him but..." He was cut off as Hermione graciously kissed the side of his head. He sighed as he cupped her face with one hand and stared at tear streaks that had stained her pale cheeks. How he hated seeing her like this. "Where do we start?" he asked her.

**X -- X**

An hour and a half later, and after much frustration later, Hermione collapsed on the Potter's couch. "I don't know where else he could be," she admitted sadly.

Harry sat next to her and took her hand, "we'll find him, 'Mione. I promise."

She leaned her head against his shoulder. "We've looked virtually everywhere. Where else could he be?" Harry had a few ideas, but he didn't want to strain Hermione any more. She looked exhausted, but also alert at the same time. He stroked her hair contently as he heard his wife come through the front door.

Ginny was startled to find Harry home early from work, also with Hermione whom she hadn't spoken to since before the wedding itself. She put down the infant in her arms in the near by playpen and approached her husband and her best friend. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Hermione's trying to find Fred," Harry stated simply. Ginny blinked at him. She had no idea what was going on, or why on earth Hermione was searching for one of her brothers, but she had no obligation to withhold information from her.

"Fred?" Ginny said bemused. Hermione's head shot up at the mention of his name. "I saw him enter the store a little over an hour ago. He looked pretty angry, now that I think about it."

"The... store?" Hermione echoed. Of course he would have gone straight to his brother for guidance after such an ordeal. How could it have been so obvious and yet so right?* She had ideally believed that if Fred wanted to hide, he wouldn't hide in a place so open... and he also wouldn't have gone to the first place a rational person would have gone looking for him.

It was so logical... and very clever. Who would go looking for someone who was hiding in an open space?

Hermione shot out of her seat and before anyone could ask her, she was out the door and apparating for the Weasley Wizarding Wheezes.

**X –- X**

Hermione raced into the store, sending herself flying into a display of Skiving Snack boxes. She drew alot of attention to her: her hair was untamed and bushier than ever, she still only wore her pyjamas with a thin coat thrown on top and now she was knocking over displays in a very crowded store. Eyes watched her carefully, murmers reached her ears. She had known that the wedding, or lack there of, had made news earlier in the week, so she didn't know why she was so surprised hearing people muttering about how she had gone insane through grief.

"Miss Granger," a familiar and helpful voice came in her ear. "What are you doing here? Are you alright?" Verity's strong hands helped her up from the mess of boxes. "Are you alright" she asked again.

Hermione nodded, the blood was rushing through her. "Are you looking for Mr. Weasley?" Verity questioned slowly.

"Yes! Do you know where he is?"

"Last I saw he was heading upstairs but--" Verity was cut off as a flurry of brown hair went past her in a hurry. Hermione had raced upstairs and flung herself into the loft. The place was still and eerily quiet.

Hermione searched the place desperately. "Fred!" she cried out. "Fred!"

"In here," she heard a deep voice call out to her from the bedroom. Hermione approached the bedroom with agility and enthusiasm. Reaching the room she noticed immediate changes....

The room was totally bare, drawers and closet doors were flung open to reveal an empty space. A redheaded figure sat on the edge of the bed, his eyes glued onto the floor. Hermione's eyes found his ear and felt her heart drop when she discovered the dark hole that replaced it.

"You're too late," George said in a strangled, hollow voice. His eyes left the floor and stared straight at Hermione, tears evident in his eyes. "He's gone"

* * *

**A/N: **_Oh my… drama… _

_Hi everyone! Long time no see. Well, school and work has me locked away from my computer. But lucky me was presented with a laptop, now I can write anywhere I go. Huzzah._

_Also: MY BIRTHDAY!! Remember roughly around this time last year, I was still updating... can't believe its taken me over a year. But I'll be sixteen so yay!_

_Okay, moment of confession: I was originally going to make this chapter long and make Fred and Hermione make up. Originally, that is. Then to me, it didn't make much sense to do that so quickly. So I had to drag it out. _

_Hmm… also, I wonder if people realized the subtle hints I put in the past few chapters of Hermione's pregnancy. The unexplainable tiredness in Ch. 24, Ginny noticing her lack of drinking and surprise over the nausea that came in the morning and Mrs. Weasley's sly wink in Ch. 26…? No one connected the dots? (Besides _one­_eight­­­ _I me­an)_

_Anyways, what did you think of this chapter? Even with that unexpected cliffie at the end?_

_Review please. I got such a lovely response last time, would love to see the same kind this time around._

_Lots of Love,_

_Creative Touch _

_P.S. For a random note: I haven't made up my mind if Hermione's previous pregnancy with Ron, that was mentioned last chapter, will have any affect on this story at all._

_P.P.S. Apologises for a lame chapter. After rereading it, I think it was lame._

**this line came from a quirky TV show known as Spicks and Specks. I had to use it.


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N: **_So yeah, I made a promise I didn't keep. Big surprise there.... not. Honestly, this has been a really hard time for me. __**Sorry it took a year and not a week.**_** (REASONS FOR MY ABSENCE IN THE END A/N!)**

**Dedication: **To _kayko15_, who knew I would come back one day. Love her to death. – OH! And Happy Birthday for the 15th of March (even if it is a tad late)

**NOTE: **A certain someone also had her birthday recently. I'm 17 years and 10 days young now :) I can't believe I didn't update ONCE when I was sixteen, man that was a tough year.

Last time:

_The room was totally bare, drawers and closet doors were flung open to reveal an empty space. A redheaded figure sat on the edge of the bed, his eyes glued onto the floor. Hermione's eyes found his ear and felt her heart drop when she discovered the dark hole that replaced it._

"_You're too late," George said in a strangled, hollow voice. His eyes left the floor and stared straight at Hermione, tears evident in his eyes. "He's gone" _

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

**Filling in the Gap**

**Chapter 30**

X -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- X

The wind howled in her wake as she walked down the lonely streets of London. Well, they weren't exactly lonely during this time of the day, but it was exactly how Hermione saw them as. She couldn't feel lonelier, even whilst drifting in a sea of people. Her mind was swirling with questions, her heart breaking at each one. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes at any thought of her beloved, but its all she could think about. Fred, Fred, Fred. How her heart ached for him.

He had moved quickly, it had only taken him such a short amount of time to disappear... to leave... to hide... to run...

She couldn't believe he just ran away like that. Why would he do that?

Hadn't he caused enough pain the first time?

And would he ever come back?

Surely he would.

He had to.

He just _had_ to.

She would die if he didn't come back. She needed him like she needed to breathe in the air. And if he wouldn't come back for her, then surely for George, his twin and best friend? George was numb when she left Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. He refused to look at her, and Hermione knew it was because deep down, he had blamed her for his twin's abrupt disappearance. Had he known what went down at her parents' house? Had he known the truth about Candice and her plan?

Hermione's heart skipped a beat, _did Fred even know? _Did he know that they were able to get married? That he was divorced? Hermione's heart beat furiously against her ribcage, she had to tell him. She had to talk to him. She must find him. No, it wasn't a must, it was _need_.

Where could he have gone? She thought about what he had told her before about running away with Candice all those years ago, but it gave her no clues to his whereabouts. He surely wouldn't go back to _her_ – Hermione didn't even know where she lived. Fred could be anywhere in this big world, he could be hiding in London still or Ottery St. Catchpole or anywhere in Britain. Was he even in Britain still? He could have easily gotten a portkey that would have transported him anywhere he would want to go in the world. It would be impossible to find him!

She thought of Harry and Ron and their skills as Aurors. It was their job to hunt people down, albeit those were criminals, but surely they could help or have some insight of where he could be. And if masters of crime couldn't escape the observation of Harry Potter, than surely Fred didn't stand a chance; no matter wherever in the world he was hiding. She would also help in the investigation, as would George and the remainder of his family. After losing him once, they would be damned to lose him again. Molly Weasley especially, there was nothing in the world that would stop her from dragging her son back home.

Hermione continued walking through the streets, processing all this information. Fred wasn't stupid, he knew all this. He knew his family would be after him as soon as they heard news of his runaway. All he could do is hide, and he would have already been one step ahead and have settled on a good hiding spot already. And all in all, this was a vicious circle that never ended. People were giving her odd looks, and who could blame them? Here was a woman, in her early twenties, walking down the roads of London in her pyjamas in the middle of the afternoon. But Hermione did not care. Nothing in the world mattered any more. She didn't want to think, she didn't want to feel.... she just wanted him back. The knot in her stomach grew as a hint of nausea made its presence known.

_Her baby_.

Fred knew she was pregnant, and still he left.

It wasn't just her that he was leaving behind, it was their child too. His own flesh and blood.

Hermione could understand why he would want to get away from her, and to a lesser extent the rest of his family. But to leave behind a child like that? Even one that hadn't even been born yet. He wanted the baby as much as she did, or so she believed. Now she wasn't even sure.

Hermione recalled the day she found out she was pregnant...

_-Flashback-_

_Hermione sat patiently in the Ministry sick bay. Her boss had sent her there when she fainted half way through a meeting, and for the past half hour, Hermione had no idea why. She had analysed herself about a thousand times within the thirty minutes and not much of it made sense. Surely she was smart enough to figure this out, and had enough of the pieces to make the whole picture. _

_She recalled falling asleep around the loft, but also at her desk at work. Tiredness was something Hermione was very familiar with, but more recently it had been affecting her more than ever. But surely, this was just a result of balancing an upcoming case with planning a wedding in a month. Just one of these would have worn out a normal person, so it would make sense if both combined in the same time had caused her to be heavily fatigued. But what about the fainting?_

_This was the first time it had happened, but it wasn't the first time she felt dizzy. Every now and then she did have a dizzy spell but she was able to recollect herself afterwards without anybody noticing. But if she did end up fainting, she wished it wasn't in the middle of a meeting, in front of her boss and colleagues. And also, she was experiencing the slightest of nausea throughout the day – her stomach didn't seem to find many foods appetizing. And as bad as it sounds, she was known to have skip meals some days. _

_But today brought it all into context, one minute she was stating her opinion about cruel enslavement of Chimeras for agricultural advantages, and the next, she was looking at the ceiling with several faces peering down at her with a concerned expression on their features. There _had _to be an explanation for all of this. She recalled the Wizarding Flu she came down with when she was moving in with Fred, surely the chances of her getting it again so soon were pretty slim, not to mention that she was not familiar with all these symptoms occurring at once. _

_A million diagnoses ran through her mind, despite her lack of knowledge in the medical field; but the more she thought about it, the more dramatic her diagnoses came to be. By the time the Ministry's healer came back into the room with the results back from her blood test, she was definitely sure that she had gotten an infectious bite from one of the Cornish Pixies she was releasing the other month and now she was most likely going to lose or limb or worse..._

"_So how are you feeling now, Miss Granger?" the healer asked her._

"_Not too bad, just a bit dizzy" Hermione looked up from her lap and stared blankly at the healer. "So what is it? Just a common cold?"_

_The healer read the clipboard in his hands, "Nope." Hermione braced herself for the worst. "In fact, you're pregnant."_

"_Pregnant?" Hermione echoed._

"_Indeed," the healer smiled. "We'll need to do a sonogram to determine how far along you are, but judging from your symptoms, I'd give an estimation of around five to eight weeks along right now." Hermione's eyes grew wide – did she hear correctly? Did he just say that she was _pregnant_? And she was about five to eight_ weeks_? That was somewhere between one to two months. How could she not have known that she was pregnant for that long? She was meant to be bright, for Merlin's sake! How could she have not seen the signs? "I'm guessing by your stunned reaction, this is an unwanted pregnancy?" the healer asked cautiously at her silence. _

"_Hmm... what?" Hermione asked, getting out of her mental state. The healer repeated his question. "Oh, no, no. Definitely not. I'm just..." she searched for the right word, "confused."_

"_Confused?"_

_Hermione nodded. "How did this happen?" Hermione questioned. "Well... I _know_ how this happened, but how can I be over a month pregnant? I took a home pregnancy test just the other week and it came back negative." Her hand subconsciously found its way down to her flat stomach, which apparently contained the life of her unborn child._

_The healer nodded in understanding, "not to worry. Several women have had the same problem. Not all home pregnancy tests are as reliable, and most of the time, you have to be at a certain amount of weeks gestation for the test to be at its best accuracy." Hermione nodded slowly, trying to take in all this new information. She was in such an eager rush to find out if she was pregnant, she didn't even think about how accurate these tests were. She just assumed it would know straight away._

_The healer passed her a pamphlet, "this will let you know more about your pregnancy, and give you tips on dealing with the symptoms. And you may want to make a Floo call to St. Mungo's and make an appointment with them for a sonogram. If you need any more information, don't hesitate to come by and ask."_

_Hermione thanked the healer and walked out of the sick bay with a small smile on her face and the only thought that filled her head was of how she was going to break the good news to Fred. _

_- End Flashback - _

A sonogram done the very next day confirmed that she was around seven weeks pregnant. With the wedding only less than week away, she was sure that she could keep it a secret from her loving fiancé for a few more days and break the news out on their honeymoon, or at the reception at least... but neither of those two events ever happened.

And now, Fred was gone. He was gone, and nobody knew where he was. Just when she needed to talk to him the most. And who knew when he would come back, if at all...

_Surely he would come back, right?_ Hermione asked herself. For the sake of their unborn baby, at the very least. What would happen to her unborn child now? How was she expected to raise her baby without a father? She couldn't possibly do this alone, especially not when her child would most likely pick up their father's genetics and remind her every day of the man she loved. She was still only in her first trimester; there were still options she could consider...

Fred and Hermione had tried for a baby for months now. She didn't expect it to happen, after all, he was a Weasley and the fact they hadn't gotten it right the first few tries made her question her as a woman. She became worried that she could not give him the child he wanted, or that she was being punished for the sins she had committed in the past. The truth behind her sudden desire to get married so quickly was that she hoped that if they did things in order, getting married first before having children, she would then be blessed with a child. She had pretty much convinced herself that she was a failure as a fiancé and as a woman by not being able to conceive Fred's child. How wrong her theories were, for there, at this current moment, a tiny heart was beating inside her womb.

It was a life. She understood that now. After having two abortions in the past, she never really thought about what she was giving up. The little life inside of her had a beating heart, and was a living thing, who could feel pain – and she had already made two suffer as a consequence of her decision. Before recent events, she never really gave her two abortions a second thought, but now her mind was plagued with guilt of what she had done.

She groaned inwardly at the reminder that she would be having her ten week ultrasound tomorrow. With all the drama going on recently, she had almost completely forgotten. She had wanted Fred to be there with her to see the first images of the life they had created together, but now she didn't even know was he was. Her hand massaged her lower abdomen as a knot formed in her stomach at the very thought. She walked up the pathway to her parent's house, wanting nothing more than to crawl back into bed and have an end to this day...

And there sitting on the front step was Fred Weasley.

**A/N: **_Mwahahah. I am SO evil._

_Okay, I have missed you all so much! I'm so sorry. I will never forgive myself for putting you in suspense for a whole year. If you really want to know what happened to me in the past odd 365 days, then let me know. Otherwise I'm gonna bore those who don't want to know. But let's just say that when a new life begun in my life, another one ended. And right now... I'm about to see to it that there will be two more lives in this world to make up for it. If you can't figure out what happened to me vaguely, feel free to ask. I am not ashamed of it. _

_So what did you think of this chapter? Was it alright for something that took way too long to write? I know it's awfully short, but at least it's been written now. _

_Oh and by the way, I want to know... what did I write last chapter that made people think that I killed Fred? Honestly, I have no idea where you crazy readers are getting this from. Someone please help!!_

_Please review. Last chapter wasn't the most popular, but I noticed that I reached the next set of hundreds in my absence... so let's keep it up people!! :) _

_Lots of Love,  
Creative Touch  
xxx_


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N: **_Whoops. I didn't mean to leave you hanging like that.

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Last time:

_She groaned inwardly at the reminder that she would be having her ten week ultrasound tomorrow. With all the drama going on recently, she had almost completely forgotten. She had wanted Fred to be there with her to see the first images of the life they had created together, but now she didn't even know was he was. Her hand massaged her lower abdomen as a knot formed in her stomach at the very thought. She walked up the pathway to her parent's house, wanting nothing more than to crawl back into bed and have an end to this day... _

_And there sitting on the front step was Fred Weasley.

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**Filling in the Gap**

**Chapter 31**

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"Fred." The name just slipped past her lips as she froze on the spot. He looked at her with pity and grief in his midnight blue eyes, it almost broke her heart. She couldn't move. She wanted to run up to him and throw her arms around his neck and kiss him until everything just went away; until it was the two of them again, and the past fortnight never happened. "Fred," she mumbled again. It was all she could do, she was frozen by shock of seeing him and the fear that he might disappear just as unexpectedly.

Fred smiled sadly, "Hi Hermione." Neither of them moved. It was hard to find the right words in that moment, so nobody spoke either. They just stared at each other hoping something would break the silence aside from the howling wind. "I don't know why I'm here. I... I just felt like I had to" Fred mumbled softly.

Hermione wanted to cry. Cry with joy from seeing him again after searching for him. Cry with relief that he hadn't left. Cry for grief that everything had been so messed up recently. Cry for the sake of crying. She bit her lip and still said nothing. She was too shocked from seeing him in front of her, after believing that he had left her to fend for herself. Fred stood up quietly and stared at her with his midnight blue eyes, which had looked like they had been crying just before she got here. They both stood a few feet away from each other, not knowing what to say or what to do. Fred's gaze upon her dropped and he looked away, "I think this may have been a mistake."

Still Hermione couldn't say anything but slightly mumble his name against the cool wind. When she didn't answer, Fred took this as a sign and began to walk away from the love of his life. But all of a sudden, "I have been running around in my pyjamas in all day, just looking for you!" Hermione half-cried when she noticed him starting to leave. She walked to him, tears evident in her eyes, "But when I got to the store, George told me you had gone. I thought you would have been anywhere, _anywhere_ but here, by now."

He brushed his fingers against her cold cheek, "I couldn't leave without saying 'goodbye'" he explained to her gently.

Hermione's heart broke. "No! Don't leave! Please!"

Fred looked like he was about to cry. "I have to."

"Why do you have to?" she asked

Fred withdrew his hand and looked away from her, "I can't just watch as you and Ron get back together. I can't go through with that. It hurts too much."

"_This _hurts," said Hermione. She pressed her hands against his chest, "This hurts that you would even think that Ron and I would get back together. I'm telling you that nothing happened between us."

"That's not what it looks like," he hissed. "You were kissing him"

"It was an accident..."

"Some accident" Fred muttered bitterly.

Hermione's voice rose a little, "it _was_ an accident. He was telling me about Candice and I went to kiss him goodbye on the cheek, but he must have moved his head, and our lips met... and then you walked in!" Tears had begun to form in her brown eyes, "It meant nothing."

"Likely story" he snapped. Hermione was taken aback by the tone of his voice, it was sharp and cut right through her. This was her Fred, and he couldn't trust her any more. She began to feel her heart ache at the very thought. Her hands slid off his chest and fell limply at her sides. "I have to go" he stated.

"Please stay," Hermione begged. "If not for me, then for the baby."

She watched as Fred sucked in a breath. His eyes dropped down to her stomach and he bit his lip as he whispered, "The baby." His fingers twitched at his side, "do you mind... do you think I could...?" He looked up at her with hopeful eyes as he motioned to her abdomen.

"Of course!" she grabbed his hand and pressed it to her stomach. "I know you can't feel anything right now, but I'm only ten weeks along. It's still early, but... that's your baby in there, Fred."

He sucked in his breath, "when are we due?"

"June" she replied. "And thanks for the 'we'"

"Well we're in this together"

She looked up at him in caution, "Are we?"

"Yeah," his hand dropped down to his side. "I'll send you some money as often as possible for the baby-"

"I don't want your money, Fred-"

Fred cut her off, "My money's probably not good enough for you anyways," he stated bluntly. "But I'll still send it, maybe you can start a Hogwarts fund with it. Just make sure he or she is in Gryffindor, will you? Well anything but Slytherin, of course" he half-smiled sadly to himself. He couldn't look at her any more, this hurt too much for him to handle. He had to leave, and he had to do it now before he broke down and cried in front of her.

"I've got an ultrasound tomorrow," she told him as he started to walk away. He stopped on the spot, and she continued, "You can come if you'd like."

Fred didn't move. "Is that wise?"

"You're their father, Fred. Don't you want to see your child?"

Fred whipped around and stared at her blankly. "Of course I do," he whispered softly.

"Fred," she spoke cautiously, taking small steps towards him. "This baby is real. He or she is going to be born in a matter of months, and it would be nice if you were around for all this." She kept moving closer, slowly just in case he decided to run again. "And it would be nice for our baby to have their father in their lives."

Fred hesitated. "Are you sure you want me to be involved though? Even after everything recently? I don't understand why you are being so pleasant right now."

"I'm not Candice, Fred" Hermione said. Fred's expression twitched at the mention of the blonde's name. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to keep you from your child. I'm not about to go make you suffer for no reason-"

""No reason"? Hermione! I thought-"

"You thought wrong." Looking at Fred's confused and scared expression, she continued spilling all she knew about Candice and their current situation. Fred listened intently, but his expression continued to get more frightened and more confused. Just as she just finished telling him about the lies that Candice had spun about their divorce files, Fred put up his hand to silence her. "How do you know all this?" he had to ask.

Hermione just uttered one name, "Ron." A flash of anger ran across Fred's eyes and his knuckles cracked as his fist tightened at his side. "Don't be like that, Fred. He wants us to be together, honest."

"And him kissing you is how that's supposed to happen?" he hissed.

"That was an accident! I swear! Fred," Hermione reached out and took out his hand and smoothed it out with her own. She kissed his knuckles then looked up into his midnight blue eyes, "You have to believe me. All this, everything, was just a misunderstanding. We both just have really poor timing. I-I-" she bit her lip. "I still love you Fred. And I'm not going anywhere, so please stay." She reached up and kissed him gently on his lips. At first Fred was too stunned to do anything, giving Hermione the impression that he no longer felt the same about her, but her mind was quickly changed when suddenly his arms wrapped themselves around her slender figure and he returned the kiss with so much enthusiasm that he practically lifted her straight off her feet.

After a moment, they both pulled away, trying to catch their breath in the chilled air. "I love you, Hermione Granger. No one else, just you," Fred said softly.

Hermione smiled, and kissed him lightly on the lips again. "Enough of this nonesense, let's go get married."

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**A/N: **_Hello, ello :) _

_You see that I am not dead. Merely just tired by the state of life! I've graduated high school! How crazy is _that_? I'm finally done with High School! Let's have a beach party... IN LONDON!_

_IGNORE THE LENGTH!_

_Also, I have some devastating news... there's not much left of this story. And by that I mean... I only have one update left. And I'm almost finished with it now. So be prepared._

_Thanks for the reviews, but I would love to have more! Keep reviewing guys, it's like crack to me. :P Love you all!_

_Lots of Love,  
Creative Touch  
xxx_


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N: **_Don't kill me when you read the end. I beg you._

_I couldn't stop however. Once I got writing, I had to keep going. I hope you're at least happy with that.

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Last time:

_After a moment, they both pulled away, trying to catch their breath in the chilled air. "I love you, Hermione Granger. No one else, just you," Fred said softly._

_Hermione smiled, and kissed him lightly on the lips again. "Enough of this nonesense, let's go get married."

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**Filling in the Gap**

**Chapter 32**

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"I'm never eating pork again!" Hermione vowed as she heaved on the ground. Fred cringed at the sight but still maintained to rub her back in soothing motions. He knew it was a bad idea to let her apparate back to the loft, but with no fireplace, what was he meant to do? He was just glad that the streets were relatively empty, and no sight of the press anyways, so there was no way that this could get out and be printed in the _Daily Prophet_. What with everything that had happened to them recently, Hermione had been the number one headlines because of the press trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill, and the last thing they needed was for the press to find out that she was being this sick because of the pregnancy.

Fred pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his wife's mouth once she had stopped heaving and started taking long deep breaths. "Are you okay?" he asked timidly.

Hermione started to cry and shook her head as she wrapped her arms around her stomach, "I'm ruining Christmas, aren't I?"

"No, love, you're not," he assured her quickly. "It's just the morning sickness, it's out of your control."

"Why won't it stop?" she whispered quietly. And they both had no answers for this, none of the potions or pills that were prescribed to her were making the slightest difference. In result, Hermione had been suffering from the wickedness that is morning sickness for weeks now, with very little end in sight. Fred discovered that it was hard to function when his wife spent the day heaving her guts into a toilet, and there was very little he could do to help her.

He looked at her with sympathy and hugged her gently. "Let's get you down for a nap, I think. You need to rest," he told her as he kissed the top of his bushy head. Hermione sighed, and a slight angry gurgle from her stomach let the both of them know that this was hardly over. Fred helped her make her way up the stairs to the loft, and then again to their bedroom, where he led her to the bed and helped her lie down gently. He kissed her forehead, as she closed her eyes and bit her lip to hold in the waves of nausea that were crashing down on her.

Fred sighed as he began to remove his jacket, and walked over to his side of their bed. He sat down on the edge and began to take off his shoes when his eyes landed on the photo standing on the nightstand. Hermione was wearing her ivory white dress, and he was in his black dress robes, and they were both smiling and laughing at the camera, with Ginny, Harry and George in the background waving at the happy couple. Their wedding day had been rushed, they couldn't risk anything keeping them apart for any longer and they had a very quick, private ceremony in the Burrow's backyard, which Molly Weasley had not approved of entirely. The reporters had had a field day when they noticed that the two were back together, and the matching wedding rings that they wore not long after the whole ordeal they had gone through with Candice.

Fred smiled at the picture, thinking about how happy he was to finally make Hermione his wife. He thought about how much he loved her. How much he would do for her. For her and their unborn baby who rested within her womb. But being much like their father already, was already giving their poor mother grief by giving her the worst morning sickness imaginable.

He felt someone move across the bed, and a familiar bushy head rest on his shoulder. "You're meant to be resting, love" he told her gently, reaching behind him to stroke her hair.

"I will in just a moment, but I wanted to give this to you first," Hermione mumbled sleepily. She pushed a shoebox sized gift into his hands. "I didn't want your family to see it, so I couldn't give it to you earlier," she explained.

"Why couldn't my family see?" he asked. He cocked an eyebrow, "is it kinky?"

"Is that all you think about?"

Fred laughed, "I think last night answered that question."

He tugged at the red ribbon before Hermione's hands stopped him. "You have to read the card first," she explained softly. Fred looked at her with surprise and confusion but obliged to his wife's request. He reached for the envelope that was attached to the present. He pulled out the small white card from its envelope, and read the words "_Merry Christmas Daddy!" _across it in neat black italics. Fred blinked in surprise and open the card up to find himself with a black and white photo of what was a tiny, wriggling baby. _His baby_.

Fred frowned and his eyebrows knitted together. "When did you get an ultrasound?"

"A few days ago." Fred's gaze remained on the photograph. The baby was so small, but it moved around every now and then in its little sac, and Fred could see the outlines of what was the baby's arms and legs which was more than he had seen the last time. "Are you angry at me for not telling you?" she asked delicately.

"What? No... no... I just wish I was with there with you for the ultrasound. Kinda got a soft spot for them after the last one," Fred admitted softly, thinking back to the ten week ultrasound he had witnessed, where all he could see was a minute peanut shaped being with a flickering heartbeat. In the few short weeks since then, the baby had grown a little and began to look a bit more like a human and less like a peanut.

"I wanted to surprise you," she mumbled, tears forming in her eyes.

Fred looked alarmed as he noticed the presence of water in her eyes and quickly kissed her cheek. "And surprised I am, love. No need for tears."

"It's these goddamn hormones," Hermione whined, as she wiped away a stray tear.

Fred kissed her cheek again and wrapped his hand around her smaller one and gave it a squeeze, "It's okay love, really. I just... I just can't believe that's our little baby there. Only six more months to go before he or she gets here." Hermione nodded her head slowly and rested her head back on his shoulder. "Can I open the gift now?" Fred asked eagerly. Hermione giggled at his boyish words and nodded her reply. Fred continued to take apart the ribbon and then the green wrapping paper. Underneath all the decoration was a small plain brown box, and Fred didn't even hesitate to remove its lid.

Fred paused when he saw what was inside. He gently took out the gift from its package to reveal what it was: A teddy bear. His fingers grazed across the fluffy gray fur of the tiny soft bear. "Are you serious?" Fred whispered. His fingers trailed down to the stitching on the bear's dark blue jumper, where it clearly read: _It's a boy!_ "We're having a boy?" his voice was shaky with uncertainty.

Hermione kissed his jaw and nuzzled into the crook of his neck. "We sure are."

"Wow," he breathed. "A boy." His fingers traced the stitching again, his mind fuzzy from feeling too much at once. "A boy," he repeated. "A son." He looked over to his wife, and smiled. "We're going to have a son," he grinned. Hermione smiled back at him and brought his hand over to her slightly curved stomach. Fred felt that familiar surge of love as he felt the hardness of his wife's stomach, that was the home of the proof of their love. Their baby. Their baby boy. Their _son._

He leaned in and kissed Hermione passionately on the lips. Everything was starting to fall into place, he had the most beautiful witch in the world as his wife and a baby on the way. Fred couldn't help but think about how the next few months would be absolute bliss for him and Hermione...

Hermione pulled away suddenly, and before Fred could even say anything, she was already off the bed and bolting towards the bathroom again. Listening to his wife throw up again, Fred fell back onto the pillows with one thought: "_that is if morning sickness ever ends."_

_- Finite Incantatem -

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_

**A/N: **Yep, this is the end of the infamous story: _Filling in the Gap_. I think I may start crying because it's the end. I must admit, when I started this, I worried about how successful it would be – and 212 reviews, 112 alerts and 57 favourites later… we come here... the end. Thanks everyone.

I can't believe it's the end either. This is my first story I've finished since I joined , so this is pretty big news to me. I normally abandon my stories and start new ones… but this one was so special to me. I couldn't ever resist it. But it is over now… and the waterworks have started now!

Oh Merlin, don't hate me for ending it. Happy endings all around! I bet you are either in tears or grabbing the screen demanding me to continue. Well… I do have some news…

(Clears throat) I want to announce that there will be a sequel. That is… if you want it. I never planned on making a sequel because I didn't think the adventures of Fred and Hermione could continue. But alas, I have had a brilliant thought for a sequel and if you, my faithful readers, are willing to read it, I will make it!

If you want the sequel, it will be called **Broken**, and I will post an announcement here when it's up for you to read. This is a lot to take in for me as well so be patient with me. But I'll guarantee that it will be out before the week is out. Again, if you want it because I don't want to post something no one will read.

Thank you again, my faithful readers.

Until we meet again.

Infinite X's and O's,  
Creative Touch

P.S. I've made a poll for whether or not you want a sequel – check out my profile!


	33. Author's Note: Announcing the Sequel

Hey, my long-lost fans!

Would just love to let you guys know that, after a two year absence, I am once again back again to continue the story of Fred and Hermione.

The sequel to _Filling in the Gap_ is now up and running, and I hope to see some familiar faces in the reviewing walls.

The story is called **Broken**, and continues not long after FitG ended. Sequel to _Filling in the Gap_, Hermione and Fred are expecting their first born but things go horribly wrong when fathers are questioned and ex's return. Can their relationship survive the barriers ahead? This is a story full of love, pain and acceptance. It is not full of lots of happy moments, but it is the suspenseful moments that will keep you reading for weeks to come.

For all those who I have been wondering where I have vanished after all this time: I have been on a journey of friendship, pain, love, heartbreak and personal growth over these last couple of years. But it has come full circle, and I have honestly missed writing fanfiction and bringing to life my own quirky stories. Whilst I continue to work on some personal issues, I am happy and relieved to be back where I belong once again.

So to my loyal fans, who have waited patiently, and have constantly encouraged me to get off my lazy ass and write again, I thank you.

Your support is so important to me, and has guided me through a troubling time.

And you will be rewarded for this.

If you need me, just follow the butterflies - and by that, I mean the story alerts.

Infinite X's and O's,

Creative Touch

xxx


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